


Heart of a Dragon

by silverlysilence



Series: Heart of a Dragon's Soul [3]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Druids, M/M, Magic, Mortal Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood), Mythical Beings & Creatures, Vikings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 74,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverlysilence/pseuds/silverlysilence
Summary: After nearly four years living on Berk, Jackson Overland considered the place home. There were many people he called friend and a select few even closer to his heart. So when a mysterious power-hungry man threatens all he holds dearly, how far will Jackson go to protect his new life?





	1. Last Era of the Olden Days

**Author's Note:**

> *Trips over box. Becomes curious at what's in it and opens it. Finds laptop and gets it to work which has it opening to last project: this story.* 
> 
> "Oh, I can't believe I forgot about this. I wonder why I never posted."
> 
> *Stops and thinks what's happened in the last year and a half. Moved. Got car towed. Started training. Moved again.*
> 
> "Yeah, now I remember."
> 
> Well, I don't know if people would still be interest in this, but here you are.

_This is Berk. The best kept secret this side of, well, anywhere. Granted, it may not look like much, but this wet heap of rock packs more than a few surprises. Life here is amazing, just not for the faint of heart. See, where most folks enjoy hobbies like whittling or needlepoint, we of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe prefer a little something we like to call Dragon Racing._

_Dragons used to be a bit of a problem here. But that was five years ago. Now they’ve all moved in. And, really, why wouldn’t they? We have custom stables, all-you-can-eat feeding stations, a full-service dragon wash, and even top-of-the-line fire prevention if I do say so myself._

_Yep. Berk is pretty much perfect. All of my hard work has paid off. And it’s a good thing too because with Vikings on the backs of dragons, the world just got a whole lot bigger._

With one last flourish of his pen Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Hope and Heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, finished his entry before eyeing the small map of Berk he had drawn under the first paragraph and made a few extra lines around Flightmare Pond. The blueprints of the stables, feeding stations, dragon wash, and various fire prevention inventions were already done in a deft hand on previous pages and didn’t need altering. He waited a few moments for the ink to dry before scooping up the various papers and bond them together with a string which he then fastened to the leg of the green Terrible Terror waiting impatiently on the desk.

“Okay Sharpshot, take this to Snuffnut and no taking detours this time,” the Viking instructed the small dragon. Sharpshot tilted his head and let out a screech before flying out the dragon door designed specifically for the Terrible Terror up in the rafters of the hut. Hopefully, the small dragon would listen to him and get the book to Berk’s part-time Botanist and full-time Dragon Rider without losing any pages. Between him and Terrorthi—who was studying under her Aunt Gothi to eventually take over for the elderly woman in between her own Dragon Rider responsibilities—they were the last two who hadn’t yet done an entry for the chronicler of Berk—who was none other than the vexing Dragon Rider Gustav Larson—newest project.

Standing up, the man stretched. His body creaking and popping in various places as he twisted to loosen cramped muscles. After years of working in the forge on top of wrangling wild dragons, no one dared to call the once runt of Berk a fishbone. Not when he had the physique of a demi-god. Running a hand through his auburn locks, Hiccup noticed his hair was getting on the longer side of normal, reaching the nape of his neck. The small braid behind his right ear was proof of that and he should have undone it before going to bed last night, but he had been too tired and forgot all about it. A twinge of pain had him kneeling down to adjust his prosthetic left foot. There he found one of the various mechanisms was out of place and the cause of his discomfort, an easy, quick fix.

Hiccup tucked the brown leather of his pants around the top of the prosthetic when he was finished adjusting the mechanism and stood once more. Brushing off the sleeves of his faded green long-sleeved tunic, the Viking began getting ready for the day at hand. A brown gambeson made from small pieces of leather painstakingly sewn together to resemble scalemail was pulled over the top of his tunic followed by the matching leather rerebraces that were secured to his upper arms. Black leather armor went on next, covering most of the gambeson while a metal shaft with two dragon heads—one with its jaw unhinged, allowing a piece of metal to peak out of the dragon’s maw, while the other dragon head at the opposing end had its mouth firmly closed—was attached to a holster on his right leg. Grabbing his black and brown leather arm bracers from off the table, Hiccup fumbled to attach the one with his knife secured to it on his left arm while the one with his compass and pocket-flap full of parchment went on to his right arm with ease.

"Come on Bud," the young man called out to the black dragon currently curled up close to the small forge in the corner of the room. A single acid green eye opened and peered at him before the Night Fury yawned revealing a mouthful of pink gums. Toothless then got to his feet, shaking out his limbs while a metallic resonating sound rung out as the dragon's left tailfin—made from mostly red fabric save for the white horned skull insignia proudly displayed at the fin's center—rubbed against various metal parts. A small plasma blast from the Night Fury snuffed the fire out in the forge before Toothless followed his rider.

Hiccup stopped when vivid green eyes caught sight of the helmet hanging off the hook to the side of the door. The helmet looked intimidating just dangling there what with the daunting black leather and three rows of dragon teeth—courtesy of Toothless—making up the upper part of the head covering. Not even the two crests of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe branded in the leather on either side of the outer most row of teeth or the brown leather of the visor did anything to lessen the intensity. Shaking his head, the Viking left the helmet where it hung and pushed the door open.

Light poured through the opening, letting in the sounds of the hustle and bustle of Dragon’s Edge wash over him. The original structures built on the island over two years ago were still standing tall—with heavy improvements—but they had since been joined by countless other buildings and shops all located near the docks. Outpost Island was living up to its name, becoming the biggest hub for trade in all of the archipelago islands, easily surpassing that of the Northern Markets.

“We’re gonna have to leave tonight to get back to Berk to make it in time for the Dragon Races three days from now, what do you say we make the most of today?” Hiccup asked the dragon at his side. The ear-plates on the Night Fury’s head perked up and Toothless looked up at him, letting out a low rumble.

“Hiccup!” a shout had the auburn-haired Dragon Rider looking to the right where his hut connected to his cousin’s hut via a wooden gangplank.

Strutting across said gangplank towards him was a shorter but well-muscled Viking. Like Hiccup, he wore a greenish-blue tunic made of layers of smaller pieces of leather resembling scalemail. Unlike Hiccup, he wore a black bear fur fashioned as a cloak over the top of the leather tunic and brown cotton pants. New brown leather bracers emblazoned with spikes matched the black fur lined leather boots that contrasted with the worn helmet embellish with spiraled sheep horns on top of his head.

Chaotic brown haired swayed as much as possible in the wind with the Viking helmet firmly in place but the stubble facial hair was a new addition. Blue eyes narrowed when they affixed on the chief’s son while a frown took up half the man’s face was not a new addition. For the few who didn’t recognize him on sight, the leather belt with a giant metal buckle engraved with the Jorgenson crest told everyone who he was, Snotlout Jorgenson.

“Snotlout, what is it?”

“Heather’s run out of leafy green things and she needs more to make those elixirs and tinctures for Terrorthi. I need you to get her some more for me,” the Monstrous Nightmare rider demanded and it took all of Hiccup’s self-control not to roll his eyes. It would seem their alchemist had his cousin wrapped around her little finger if he was hunting down ‘leafy green things’ for the healing elixirs and tinctures their healer-in-training required.

Raising a single eyebrow, Hiccup gave him a blank look. “And you’re asking me why? You’ve gone to collect herbs and spices with Jackson more times than I have; can’t you collect your own?”

Snotlout snorted and gave his cousin a look which conveyed that he couldn’t believe the Night Fury rider had even asked such a stupid question. “You think I’d be asking you if I could simply fly into the forest with Hookfang and get them myself? Yeah, no,” the brunet deadpanned. “The herbs she needs don’t grow anywhere around here.”

“Go talk with Guild Master Typhan. Firefang and him flew in last night along with some boats from Berk to deliver the new wares, he might have what you’re looking for. Tell him to put it on the Academy’s tab. If not, I’m pretty sure we can make a trade with some of the Wyldfae for what you’re looking for,” the chief’s son directed vivid green eyes down at the port where he could see people already milling about as longboats were being unloaded and loaded with merchandise despite the early hour. In the past, only one merchant boat came to the Edge with wares and supplies, but things had changed.

“Great,” Snotlout grinned bringing a hand up to his mouth to let out a passable dragon roar. A moment later, a large Monstrous Nightmare flew down from the cliffs and hovered near the decking so his rider could jump onto his back. “Come on Hookfang, let’s go find Typhan.”

Watching the reddish-orange dragon fly away, Hiccup shook his head only to notice Toothless heading down the gangplank connecting Snotlout’s hut to a waystation that connected many different zip-lines and gangplanks to various places across the village. “Toothless! Where are you going?”

Running to catch up to the wayward dragon, Hiccup almost collided with a blond heavyset Viking who was barreling in the opposite direction as him. The blue-eyed Viking wore a two-toned brown fur tunic reaching all the way down to his furry brown boots. Fur armbands kept his arms warm due to his lack of sleeve while a metal helmet with tiny Gronckle wings protruding out on either side sat on top of blonde hair. A leather belt wrapped around the Viking’s large girth with three pouches in the front and the sheath to a sword attached to the left side.

“What’s the hurry?” Hiccup asked the hunched over form of Fishlegs Ingerman, Berk’s leading most dragon expert and teacher at the Dragon Training Academy.

“Gustav and Fanghook set fire to my topiaries, again! I just finished regrowing them after the last time! And then he had the nerve to take off!” the Gronckle rider ranted waving his arms around haphazardly in frustration.

Wincing, the auburn-haired Viking hoped the younger Monstrous Nightmare rider hadn’t damaged the hamadryad’s sapling tree they had painstakingly transported from Berk to Outpost Island because while Fishlegs was mad, Jackson would be furious. “He didn’t—?”

“No, Hlín is fine. Silvermist and Iridessa put the fire out before it could reach her,” the blond shook his head and Hiccup found himself letting out a huge sigh of relief. “But Gustav’s gonna be making it up to Hlín once I find him. She really liked those topiaries.”

“Right, good luck finding him,” the Head of the Dragon Training Academy stepped to the side, allowing Fishlegs to continue on with his search.

“Oh, I don’t need luck, Silvermist and Iridessa are tracking him down,” the heavyset Viking muttered, hurrying down the gangplanks heading towards the silver and golden orbs of flashing light hovering over the stables.

Seeing how Fishlegs had things under control, the auburn-haired young man went about his own business of catching his own wayward target. He lost sight of Toothless during his run-in with the Gronckle rider and upon searching the various gangplanks and platforms high up, Hiccup came up empty. Looking down, a flash of red caught his attention and drew his eyes towards the Night Fury heading into port. The Viking found himself climbing down a nearby ladder to reach the ground only to almost head straight back up the ladder when he was met with twin pairs of blue eyes.

The pair on the left belonged to a teenager on the verge of womanhood with long blonde hair done in braided pigtails underneath a helmet with two horns on either side and a row down the middle. The woman wore a yellowish-brown dress reaching her thighs with a dark blue tunic-like vest over which covered her torso—stopping at her waist and opened in the middle—and a red cloth belt around her waist. Another vest made of tan fur went over the top of that and brown leggings paired with dark blue furry boots kept her legs warm. On her arms, she wore a long dark-blue, violet, and light brown cloth brace that began at her elbows and ended at her wrists.

The second pair of blue eyes belonged to a man with blond dreadlocks and leather ties which bound various locks of hair together. His helmet looked just like the other blonde’s but with larger, thicker horns giving it a more masculine appearance. Around his neck hung a dragon tooth necklace which was the twin to the one around his twin’s neck. The man wore a dark blue tunic over burnt red leggings and a studded leather belt around his waist. A vest made of dark grey fur went over the top of his tunic with a spiked leather shoulder pad situated on his right shoulder only. Spiked boots similar to his belt covered his feet and studded leather armguards with a matching spiked armband on his left bicep completed the Viking’s warrior look.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, devoted followers of Loki and Jökul Frosti, wore twin maniacal grins on their faces as they failed to hide spears behind their backs. That alone had Hiccup wanting to flee. The tiny bolts of lightning jumping from one spear tip to the other and back again spoke of their recent usage which further intensified the urge to run.

“Ruff, Tuff, what can I do for you?” the auburn-haired young man asked, inching around the two.

“You wouldn’t happen to be opposed to letting us borrow a few of the Lightning Rocks Jackson gave to you, would you?” Ruffnut asked with a faux-innocent voice.

“Uh…no.”

“Come on Hiccup, old buddy, old pal,” Tuffnut threw his arm over Hiccup’s shoulder which was quickly shrugged off as the other man took a step back, “there’s no need to worry—”

“—much,” his sister amended under her breath yet not softly enough to keep their leader from hearing.

“Well, after an argument like that,” Hiccup began cheerfully before glaring at the two and deadpanned, “absolutely not.”

“But—”

“No, I don’t know why you need Lightning Rocks nor do I care. You’re not getting any, end of discussion,” the forlorn expression on the twins’ faces had the auburn-haired Viking’s shoulders slumping and a guilty feeling eating away at him. Letting out a deep breath, Hiccup nodded his head at the stables. “Though, you might want to see if Fishlegs needs any help punishing Gustav for almost setting Hlín on fire.”

Both blonde heads perked back up and mischievous grins were firmly in place again.

“You’re the best Hiccup!” Tuffnut cheered as the twins assaulted the chief’s son on both sides with crushing hugs.

“Yeah, the best!” Ruffnut agreed, releasing the Heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe and began scrambling up the ladder.

“Hopefully, I didn’t just sacrifice Gustav to the twins,” Hiccup muttered to himself watching as the two Vikings awkwardly ascended the ladder with their spears in hand.

“I’m sure everyone would agree it would be for a good cause. If the twins are busy with Gustav, they won’t be bothering anyone else,” a female voice had the Night Fury rider turning around to find Heather strolling towards him.

It appeared the light green-eyed woman had just come from the lab in her hut judging by the safety goggles resting on top of her head. Her clothing, on the other hand, would have anyone else thinking she’d just come from the training arena with the double-bladed axe strapped to her back along with the Razorwhip scale-plated armor skirt and arm bracers she donned. However, she always wore them along with her dark grey leggings and long-sleeved tunic underneath a leather vest. As usual, her raven hair was in a braid that hung over her left shoulder and a horn was tied to her belt along with various other pockets which contained various elixirs and potions.

“Good morning Heather,” Hiccup greeted the shieldmaiden, strolling forward to meet her halfway. “I heard from Snotlout you ran out of some ingredients for the healing potions the Outpost needs.”

“Yeah,” the alchemist nodded her head as the two made their way into the lower village. “I finished the burn salve and the Eel Pox medicine, but I didn’t have enough comfrey to make the pain relief salve and I ran out of valerian for the herbal sleep tea. Though, since Snotlout volunteered to get the missing ingredients I needed, I thought I’d stretch my legs and go for a quick flight around the island on Windshear before finishing up. Want to join me?”

“A flight around the island sounds great, but as you can see, Toothless has decided to abandon me at the moment,” the Night Fury rider huffed.

“Mmm, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Heather grinned pointing ahead of them to the black dragon coming towards them. However, Toothless wasn’t alone.

Beside the dragon was a slender brunet with a messy mop of hair. The teenager wore form-fitting brown deerskin pants bound at the legs with a leather cord that disappeared underneath white fur-lined boots. A silver triskele was pinned to a leather leg pouch secured to his right leg with a few buckles and a belt that also held a few more pouches hidden by the hooded blue mantled, white fur-lined cloak the brunet always had with him. The slightly darker blue color of the scalemail vest peaked out from between the cloak but completely hid the white cotton sleeveless shirt Hiccup knew the teenager wore underneath the jack of plates. It was the only piece of armor the teenager donned other than the arm bracer made from the same scalemail material strapped to his right arm.

On his left arm was a blue cloth arm warmer secured with a leather cord only visible because the teenager’s carried a gnarled piece of wood with a hook in his left hand. A white cloth wrapped around the upper length of the staff to prevent the gnarled wood from biting into the brunet’s hand while three charms, a clear crystal, a black dragon scale, and a silver snowflake—which matched the delicate oriental silver armlet which, well currently hidden, Hiccup knew wound around the brunet’s right bicep—hung from the bottom of the hook by separate strands of leather cords. However, what stood out the most about the young man was the pair of shocking amber eyes.

“Hiccup!” Jackson Overland—Berk’s Druid—whined as he came into earshot. “It’s not fair! I used to be the tallest yet now everyone is taller than me!”

Looking over at Heather with an askance expression—who wore the same confused look most likely plastered all over his own face—vivid green eyes shifted back towards the brunet when the shieldmaiden shrugged her shoulder in confusion. “You’re taller than Snotlout.”

“ _Everyone_ is taller than Snotlout, even Terrorthi is taller than Snotlout and she is five years his junior and a girl. He is a statistical outlier and shall not be used in this argument. Also, Terrorthi is _taller_ than _me_ , which is the real point! Everyone is taller than me and it’s not fair!”

“It’s not a big deal, so you’re shorter than the rest of us,” Hiccup tried to appease the Druid. It had the opposite effect.  

“Did you just call me _short_?” Jackson whirled on him. There was a hard edge to his voice and the chief’s son knew he had said the wrong thing. A glance at the dark-haired shieldmaiden to his side revealed her to be stifling a bout of giggles. The glare he gave her didn’t even deter her one bit but had a few snorts escaping as she did her best to go unnoticed by the brunet.  

“No,” Hiccup waved his hands back and forth in front of his chest frantically.

He didn’t see the problem, yeah, they had all grown in the last few years and he, in particular, had gone through a large growth spur seeing as he was now the tallest of the group taking Jackson’s former place as the tallest. The Druid, on the other hand, really hadn’t grown since arriving at Berk, but that wasn’t to say he was the same height either. Where his staff used to be a head taller than him, it was now half a head. Not that noticeable, but noticeable enough if one had been paying attention to Jackson over the last few years and Hiccup had been watching.

Rubbing the back of his head, Hiccup looked up into amber eyes swirling with emotions as their owner tapped his foot impatiently. “Well, not really. I was just agreeing with you that…that everyone else is taller than you.”

“I… am… _not…_ _short_!” Jackson drew out through low growls, throwing his hands up and Hiccup had to avoid being hit with the Druid’s staff that was being waved around wildly. He nearly hit Heather as well, but she merely sidestepped the unintentional swipe. “You’re all freakishly tall! It’s the Viking blood; I know it, but come on! Druids weren’t slouches in the height department either and yet everyone is taller than me!

“And you!” Jackson whirled around and pointed his staff directly at the tall Viking who went cross-eyed to get a good look at the end of the staff a mere inch from his nose at the most. “You agreed with the rest of them! Well, guess what? You and Toothless can just go back to Berk for the Dragon Races all by yourself! I’m staying here!”

With that, Jackson stormed away and Hiccup looked between Toothless and Heather with a blank expression on his face. “What just happened?”

“I have no idea,” the raven-haired shieldmaiden confessed through her giggles.

“I do,” a third voice piped up drawing the trio’s attention towards the approaching shieldmaiden with blonde hair stylized in such a fashion that a small braided strand of hair was interwoven with the rest of her wheat-colored locks into a much larger braid. Her bangs were the only tresses of hair left free and they would have fallen into her blue eyes if not for the plain light brown leather headband keeping the fringe at bay.

The shieldmaiden wore a deerskin capelet lined with tan fur which was affixed to her metal shoulder plates with cloak clasps in the shape of birds’ skulls. Her fur skirt with spiked leather pleats was also held in place with the same metal bird skulls fashioned into a belt. Whereas her fur arm cuffs with a deerskin outer lining matched perfectly with the capelet. The back of her red shirt where an axe usually resided was absent seeing how the weapon was currently dangling from her waist while the hilt of her dagger was sticking out of her right furred boot, though it was hard to see with the extra material of her blue leggings gathered around it.

“A few of the teens from visiting tribes were making some comments about Jackson when they found out he was nearly eighteen winters old,” Astrid answered through clenched teeth. “He didn’t take too kindly to some of the things that were said. Although, why he latched on to the comment about his height, I have no idea.”

“Why? What else was said?” Hiccup asked as Heather tilted her head to the side just as curious as the auburn-haired Viking was.

This time when the blonde Dragon Rider answered, Astrid ran a finger across the blade of the axe at her side. “Let’s just say that if it wasn’t for the fact that three of them were the sons of the visiting chief, they would have been missing one less body part.”

Hiccup’s own hand went to the double dragon-headed hilt he had clipped to the holster at his right side and wondered if a Monstrous Nightmare salvia coated blade would be best as a _demonstration_ or if gas from a Hideous Zippleback would work better. Either would teach them a lesson that Astrid couldn’t since he was the son of a chief himself and had more political sway; besides, his father had a fondness for Jackson and would be just as angered by the children’s slander as Hiccup was. Stoick wasn’t the only one with an attachment for the Druid as Toothless’s ear-plates went back and a ferocious growl rent the air while Heather’s hand had somehow summoned the battle axe from her back without moving.

“Who are these boys again?” Hiccup gritted his teeth to keep from growling.

“And where can I find them?” the raven-haired shieldmaiden asked, flipping open her axe ever so casually. Toothless’s teeth unsheathed themselves at the prospect of having prey the natural predator was most willing to hunt.

“Oh, the twins volunteered to show them their spears which produced a nice show of lightning before they booked it out of there while the muttonheads were too _electrified_ to move. Which was about the time Snotlout stepped forward,” Heather perked up at the mention of the Monstrous Nightmare rider’s involvement, “and offered to give the chief’s sons a ride on Hookfang. He didn’t want an incident between tribes after all and was only trying to sooth ruffled scales. Sadly, Hookfang flamed up as they flew away and since Snotlout was the only one situated on the saddle, well, let's just say they were in some _hot_ water.”

“Shame I haven’t finished that burn salve,” the alchemist smirked, lying through her teeth. “Remind me to give Snotlout a kiss.”

Astrid grimaced. “Please don’t remind me the two of you are courting. I thought you went for the more brainy types like Fishlegs.”

“Mmm, what can I say, his constant persistence won me over,” Heather shrugged as she collapsed her battle axe and reattached it to her back.

“Girl talk, that’s my cue to leave. I might as well go talk to the visiting chief before his sons get back from their ride on a certain Monstrous Nightmare,” Hiccup said nonchalantly and attempted to go unnoticed as he extracted himself from the two shieldmaidens. He had every intention to head out to the Club House as the Riders of Berk affectionately named it when it was first built—now everyone just referred to it as the Council Chambers—which was where the distinguished guests sometimes convened for privacy.

The two shieldmaidens creased their conversation, giving each other knowing looks before turning their attention directly on the auburn-haired Viking.

“Sooo,” Astrid drawled out as Toothless moved to present his side to his rider, giving the young man a better angle to mount the dragon.

“So, what?” Hiccup asked fitting his metal foot into the stirrup and swung up into the saddle sparing a glance over his shoulder at the two Dragon Riders under his command.

“When are you going to tell him?” Heather probed crossing her arms over her chest.

“Tell who what?” the Night Fury rider shot back honestly confused when the conversation had taken a turn in a completely different direction and where it was now headed. He didn’t think he wanted to stay around and find out, which was why he shifted the mechanical tailfin open. There wasn’t even a pause between him shifting the gears and Toothless taking off. Sadly, he didn’t get the reprieve he wanted when he heard two different dragon calls and in no time at all, there was a primarily blue Deadly Nadder and a metallic Razorwhip flying on either side of him.

“Oh, don’t play dumb with us,” Astrid cajoled as she veered Stormfly off to the side, forcing Toothless to turn with the blue dragon or risk a collision.

“I honestly have no idea what you are talking about,” Hiccup grunted as he fought to get the dragon under him under control. Toothless did not like being cut off. The Night Fury growled, wanting to remind the other dragons he was higher up in the hierarchy than them but his rider wasn’t allowing it.

“Jackson,” the two young women on either side of him all but shouted.

Allowing Toothless a little more leeway, the Night Fury sped up, forcing Windshear and Stormfly to fly faster if their riders wanted to continue interrogating Hiccup. “What about him?”

“When are you going to tell him you’ve been courting him?” Heather absentmindedly stroked the small oriental axe strapped to the side of the saddle with her crest—that of a Skrill—proudly gilded in gold on the blade.

“What…uh I… um… I..,” Hiccup almost fell off of Toothless when Windshear turned and he was once again forced to turn where the shieldmaidens’ dragons were corralling him. Thankfully, the Night Fury was able to keep his rider on his back and rumbled at the auburn-haired Viking in reprimand for almost falling out of the saddle on top of holding him back.

“Oh, come on Hiccup, everyone but Jackson knows you’re courting him,” the Deadly Nadder rider huffed, waving down to the ground where the Druid’s blue cloak stood out from the mass of browns and greys as Jackson made his way through the port, “for Odin’s sake, you gave him a crest! Not just _made_ him a crest, you _gave_ him a crest! It’s all the tribe can talk about lately.”

“Well, he didn’t have one of his own and everyone views him as a part of the tribe. I just made it official by giving him his own tribal crest,” the chief’s son snorted as green eyes tracked the fast-moving Druid gracefully weaving through the crowds and obstacles. It was a wonder he hadn’t taken to the roofs and taller structures he loved to bound across. However, since the strings on Jackson’s cloak broke, Hiccup could understand the teenager’s hesitation. What he couldn’t understand was how the majority of the Dragon Riders missed the fact that while he was openly courting Jackson, it wasn’t one-way. “Besides, I needed some kind of design for the cloak clasp.”

“And the crest just happened to be a Night Fury?” the alchemist asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The only known one just happens to be Toothless, who happens to be _your_ dragon?” Astrid tacked on.

“They get along so well; besides I couldn’t think of anything else for Jackson’s family crest,” Hiccup rolled his eyes and attempted to change direction by pulling up into a backwards loop so the Night Fury was now headed towards the snow-covered mountains and not out into open water.

Heather actually appeared to contemplate his comment. “You could have used the triskele as his crest.”

“No, I couldn’t, the triskele is a sacred druidic symbol which already has its own meaning,” Hiccup shook his head.

“Your point is not valid since the Night Fury is already the symbol of the Academy,” Astrid argued.

Vivid green eyes rolled. “No, it isn’t, Toothless is the symbol of the Academy.”

“What’s the difference?” Heather cried out in exasperation.

“The Dragon Training Academy’s symbol is Toothless’s silhouette, red tailfin and all. Jackson’s crest is a Night Fury’s silhouette.”

“That’s…that’s not the point! The point is, you…are…courting…Jackson,” the Deadly Nadder rider would not be deterred. “I heard you even gave him your shield.”

“I’ve seen it hidden underneath his cloak,” Heather corrected directing a pretentious smirk towards Astrid for knowing something she didn’t.

The Viking shrugged his shoulders as he patted the two-headed dragon hilt at his side. “I’ve got the Dragon Blade: Inferno, I don’t need the shield anymore.”

“And he made your armor,” Astrid pointed to the black leather body armor which covered his upper torso, specifically the two crests on the armor. The right shoulder pad just so happened to have the same skull crest on it that was embezzled on Toothless’s tailfin only his was done in red rather than white. Whereas the leather strap which went over his left shoulder and fastened his armor together displayed a small red Hairy Hooligan Tribe crest. In other words, it had his crests imprinted all over it.

“So?” Hiccup grinned knowing she was missing one crest. Green eyes flickered to the dagger secured to his left arm, knowing no one had ever seen the iridescent skull crest on the blade. Well, no one but him and Jackson.

“I made Snotlout his leather armor as a part of our courtship,” Heather added adjusting her goggles over light green eyes when the icy winds from the mountaintops swept down and across the Dragon Riders.

“Those are all things done during a courtship and what’s worse is Jackson doesn’t even realize what he’s doing, but _you_ _do!_ ” Astrid growled out, her annoyance at his deliberate obtuseness finally getting to her.

“Obviously they’re things one does during a courtship,” the chief’s son agreed as the smirk he had been holding back finally split across his face, “that’s why I’m going to make it official and ask Jack to be my betrothed.”

“What?” came two identical cries; although, it was Astrid who was the first to cotton on.

“You’re pulling my leg.”

“Of course, but not about asking Jackson to be my betrothed. See, I explained our courting customs to Jack _years ago_ ,” Hiccup continued on smiling as he shifted Toothless’s tailfin and finally allowed the Night Fury to have his way. The Strike-class dragon surged forward—way faster than either Stormfly or Windshear could ever manage—straight up into the air before doing a few aerial maneuverers and heading back to Dragon’s Edge.

“Bastard!” two screams came after him and he was sure the people hiking up the mountain heard them too. Not that he cared. Soon, everyone would know Jackson was taken and he couldn’t be happier.

After having to keep his courtship with Jackson a secret due to the threat of Dagur, then the Dragon Hunters and Ryker, then Viggo, then Krogan and his Dragon Flyers, and even Johann for Odin’s sake, Hiccup was finally able to tell the entire archipelago they were together. He could have confided in the group in the rare moments of downtime they had together in between the nonstop trouble the Academy members kept finding themselves in. But then, the time never seemed right and he never got around to it.

Now? Now Hiccup just wanted the whole tribe—the whole world even—to know Jackson Overland was _his_ and he was Jackson’s.


	2. Dawn Before the Races

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I can't believe how many of you reviewed within 24 hours of posting this. Thank you for still being there. As Titania_queen_of_fairys assumed, this is the HTTYD 2 squeal I hinted at all throughout Soul of a Druid.
> 
> Sticksandstones713: Fanart? I would love fanart! If you are willing to do fanart for me, I am willing to link it to wherever you post it. Just send me the link and I will share it with all.
> 
> Everest: Please don't die, I don't what a ghost haunting me. I'm glad you finally read the first of the series and liked it so much you checked out the rest of the stories.
> 
> Also, just to let you guys know, this will most likely be updated every other Friday (sorry no weekly updates this time around) and I'm pretty sure you all realized that I'm still without internet so just because I'm not responding to your reviews isn't because I'm not reading them. I love every single one of them, so keep them coming.
> 
> On that note, there will be an update next week, but it won't be a long chapter. It's more like a page because it doesn't fit with this chapter or the one after that, but I like so it is getting posted. Now go read.

Jackson yawned as he closed the door to the hut situated on the outermost rock stack barely within Berk’s border. The home used to belong to Finn Hofferson and before that Mildew; however, since Mildew became a member of the Outcast Tribe and Finn moved in with his husband, the hut had been empty. It was a good thing too since the Druid didn’t have a place to call his own on Berk and tended to crash wherever was available now that Gobber was married. Thankfully, the hut was empty when the small group arrived as the sun reached its zenith over Berk after a thirty-six-hour flight from Outpost Island. So, while the rest of the Dragon Riders could sleep at their family’s homes after such a long flight, he and Heather claimed the hut for the day.

A few sparks of light came from the orchard of trees in what used to be a cabbage field but with a little help from the Wyldfae and a few hamadryads, the cabbage field became an apple orchard. An orchard which then became the fae of Berk’s home when they weren’t flittering about. Currently, the little flickers of light were from the Dewdrop Faeries snoring in the trees, not that he could blame them at this early hour. Jackson wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t anyone else up but after falling asleep at noon the day prior, the brunet couldn’t sleep anymore unlike the Razorwhip rider who was still conked out. Instead, he chose to step out to keep from waking Heather from her beauty sleep.

The winds gently wafted around him in a friendly greeting which was returned. There was a slight hesitation before the winds relayed to him the Dragon Trainees—though they had long since graduated to fulltime Dragon Riders, but Jackson would always see the first wave of children riders as Dragon Trainees—had run into a problem out on patrol around Outpost Island. Apparently, they had located some hunters in search for the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmares a few islands over and both Typhan and Commander Huffnut were forced to intervene in order for them to apprehend the hunters without casualties. A solar wind from the Craftsmen Guild Master carried a similar missive about the incident along with well wishes for him and Hiccup in the day’s Dragon Races.

Jackson disregarded the pleasantries and focused on the fact there were Dragon Hunters near Outpost Island. He didn’t like the very notion of _Dragon Hunters_ , let alone that there were some around his island. Maybe he shouldn’t have come back to Berk and stuck with his original proclamation he would stay behind while Hiccup and Toothless raced without him. Yet, despite being irritated with the auburn-haired Viking, he couldn’t not come back for the Dragon Races. Jackson absolutely adored the Dragon Races and he loved participating in them with Hiccup and Toothless even more. Besides, he wasn’t really angry at the Dragon Rider, irritated he had called him short, absolutely— _he wasn’t short!_ —but not angry.

“Hmm, could you lend the little ones a helping hand out there? Maybe round up a storm or two if they get in over their heads?” the Druid asked the winds knowing that while the older Thorston sibling was going to be staying at the Dragon’s Edge for the next fortnight or so, Typhan was supposed to be back in Berk within the week and while Huffnut was the Commander of the Berk Guard, it was the craftsman who was the real force to be reckoned with. Not that many knew Berk’s Craftsmen Guild Master was the human form of a Titan Constellation with abilities not of this world; just like they didn’t know that their slow fisherman Bucket was actually one of their most revered gods. Jackson was the only mortal to know either of their secrets since they knew of his as a former immortal himself and a Guardian of Childhood.

There was a gust in reply as the winds agreed to watch over the children. However, they did have one condition, a race to the village. Jackson only had enough time to process the challenge before the winds were off and he was left behind. Not too far behind though, since he quickly surged forward, running to catch up and when that didn’t work, he jumped off the side of the rock stack. His heart raced as he plummeted towards the fast approaching ground. A shift of his wrist had the crook of his staff latching onto one of the branches from the tree growing out the side of the rock face. The abrupt halt had him swinging upwards due to his built-up momentum and he was propelled upwards. Another shift of his wrist had the crook coming free and a twist had him flipping upright.

Landing on the same branch, amber eyes scrutinized the options available to him for a way down. A giant grin spread across his face and he waited the few seconds required before leaping. He landed with a cushy little bounce that gave him enough leeway to get his feet underneath him as he slid down the wing of the Boneknapper. The Mystery-class dragon automatically flew closer to the ground to keep the brunet from breaking a leg when he jumped from the bone covered wing.

“Thanks, Skully!” the Druid shouted as he hit the ground in a roll. Once his feet were back underneath him, he took off at a sprint towards the nearest huts, catching up to the winds at the edge. A few more steps and they were in the village. “A tie…guess today isn’t the day I beat you but I will… one of these days.”

The winds ruffled his hair, laughing at him before bidding him a good day and heading out back towards Outpost Island. Sighing, Jackson brushed the dirt off his cloak, fingers brushing over the silver clasp which brought a smile to his face as he looked down at the outline of a Night Fury. The crest was a wonderful present but he loved what it symbolized even more. It was his tribal crest, the way to show his clan was part of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. Jackson had known he had a place in the tribe for years now, but the crest had been an official acknowledgment to every Viking that his clan—the Taliesin clan—was a part of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.

Walking through the village, he took in the many new additions that had come to the place since he had first arrived what felt like a thousand winters ago. There were multiple large perches for dragons to sit and rest on in lieu of them nesting on the huts. Something which had caused a few holey roofs in the past. A dragon style weathervane stood out above the tops of the huts along with the signal horn which would be used in the Dragon Races later in the day.

Feeding stations were being filled by some of the early rising Vikings while others were cleaning out the scales from various dragon wash stations, all of whom stopped to wave at him as he passed by. There was even one woman already calmly dousing a fire with a surge of water from one of the multiple spouts on the overhead network of aqueducts. A smile graced his lips to see the place adorned with flags and banners, especially when he caught sight of his own blue banner with a silver triskele embroidered in the middle.

A flutter of wings had Jackson looking up to find a flock of multicolor Terrible Terrors landing on the totem pole marking the boundaries of the racetrack. A squawk from the alpha of the flock was quickly echoed by his underlings followed by pitiful looks. The Druid tried not to give in at the soul-wrenching expression, he really did, but ended up caving and reaching into his leg pouch to retrieve the dragon treats he kept there. Throwing the treats in the air, each of the Terrible Terrors darted after one, catching them before a single treat could hit the ground.

“And you better not be expecting anymore! Cause I’m not giving you any. Nope…nah-uh—aah,” his words were reduced to a yelp when a hand reached out from behind him, snaking around his waist, and pulling him back into the narrow area in between two huts. He would have jabbed his staff or elbow back into whoever it was, but the person had trapped his arms to his side and he couldn’t move.

“Shh, _Elskede_ , it’s only me,” a husky voice whispered in his ear as the arms around him loosened, allowing the brunet to shift enough to elbow Hiccup in the chest.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Jackson scolded, a scowl firmly in place as he squirmed about in order to turn around to face the grinning Viking, “and I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Not a chance _Elskede_ ,” Hiccup chuckled as he placed a kiss upon the brunet’s forehead.

“Then at least tell me what it means,” the Druid pouted knowing Hiccup would do no such thing.

The Viking thought it was amusing he knew pretty much their whole language save for a few key words, one of which was _elskede_. Jackson toyed with the idea of just asking Bucket or Typhan what the word meant after the auburn-haired Dragon Rider had refused to explain. H just couldn’t bring himself to. No, Jackson wanted Hiccup to be the one to tell him what it meant, not anyone else.

“Hmm,” Hiccup appeared to be considering it but the brunet knew him too well, the young man wouldn’t divulge the meaning. Not today and the Druid was proven correct not a moment later. “Nope, not telling you.”

Glaring at him, Jackson took a step back out of the Viking’s arms, crossing his own arms across his chest. “You’re going to have to tell me one of these days.”

“But today’s not going to be the day,” Hiccup smiled back, though the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes which had Jackson concerned. They’ve had this conversation numerous of times and it never failed to bring amusement to the Dragon Rider. Yet, today was an exception which was the cause for the Druid’s concern.

“What’s wrong?”

Hiccup’s smile faltered. “How do you do it? How can you always tell when there’s something bothering me?”

“The same way I can tell you’re trying to distract me, now out with it,” Jackson demanded, his posture loosening when Hiccup’s posture became rigid and ducked his head. The Dragon Rider’s right hand came and calloused fingers carded through disheveled auburn hair. Taking a step forward, the Druid reached up and stroked the freckled cover cheek, his thumb running over the raised scar on the Viking’s chin. The chief’s son leaned into the touch, his body relaxing and his own hand falling from his hair to cover the smaller hand. “Talk to me Hiccup.”

Sighing, Hiccup pulled the hand off his cheek but didn’t let go. “Not here. Toothless.”

A grumble from above had Jackson looking up to see the Night Fury peering down at them from the top of one of the huts. The dragon let out a soft croon and tilted his head to the side before climbing down. Jackson winced, hoping the owner of the hut either wouldn’t notice the new holes in the wall due to Toothless’s claws or wouldn’t care. Climbing on behind the Dragon Rider, the brunet secured his staff to the saddle—one of the various new features Hiccup had designed for the new saddle and one which Jackson very much appreciated since he didn’t have to worry about losing his staff—and wrapped his arms around the Viking’s waist.

Toothless took off and flew around the island. The Druid didn’t say anything as Hiccup put the Night Fury through his paces. They did various aerial maneuverers along with weaving in and out of the sea stack in reminiscent of the moves they had done so long ago to escape from a newly hatched Screaming Death. Though, there were a few additional moves thrown in which Toothless and Hiccup had learned after the fact. Jackson allowed the Dragon Rider his freedom, to work off some of the nervous energy he was feeling and when they had made their way around the island once, only then did the Druid speak up.

“You wanna talk about what’s bothering you now?”

“Not really,” Hiccup sighed. His actions contradicted his words as the Night Fury glided down closer to the ground.

At first, the brunet thought they might be heading to the cove, however at the last second Hiccup veered Toothless back towards the village. They ended up at the forge, more specifically on top of the roof where they watched the village wake to greet the new day. Jackson didn’t push the Viking and sat in silence next to the man he had come to love with all his heart. Amber eyes focused on Toothless down below as the Night Fury pawed at the lump of dragon flesh which was the Hotburple, Grump—who usually slept in the forge to deter anyone from trying to steal the blacksmith’s goods—and wasn’t getting a response.

“My father thinks it’s time for me to step up and become chief,” Hiccup stiffly spoke up as Toothless finally got a reaction from Grump. The Hotburple let out a large yawn, spitting up some lava—thankfully, the Night Fury was quick enough to jerk back and out of the way—before rolling over and going back to sleep.

“And you would make a great chief. Much better than me that’s for sure,” Jackson teased the young man who lost some of his tension. “That’s not the problem though, is it? Your problem is that being chief is all hard work and deadlines—and yes, I’m generalizing here don’t interrupt me—and you’re free-spirited, dragon riding Viking who—"

“—is still looking for who I am,” the auburn-haired Dragon Rider interrupted the brunet, leaning back and observing the clear blue sky. “I know that I’m not my father... and I never met my mother... so, what does that make me?”

Suddenly, there was a weight in his lap as two hands grabbed either side of his head and drew vivid green eyes to stare straight into livid liquid amber. “That makes you Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, the Boy who Befriend the Dragons, the Conqueror of the Red Death, the Head of the Dragon Training Academy, and oh so much more. It makes you, _you_. You don’t need to look for who you are because _I_ already know who you are and I’ll always be there to remind you of that: _always_.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” the Druid reassured and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

The serious and grave atmosphere seemed to have been dissolved with the kiss and yet, Hiccup looked even more edgy now than he’d been prior. “Good, because I have something I need to ask you.”

“You know you can ask me anything, just name it.”

“Well, I—”

“Hiccup, is that you?”

Groaning, the Dragon Rider let his head fall onto Jackson’s shoulder. “It’s my father, isn’t it?” Hiccup didn’t even bother to move his head from the Druid’s shoulder as the brunet peered over his shoulder and confirmed that it was indeed Stoick the Vast. Hiccup couldn’t hold back another groan. “I don’t want to deal with him right now, I _can’t_ deal with him right now.”

“Don’t worry,” Jackson said rolling off of Hiccup before pulling a dragon treat out from his pouch. Holding it up to get Toothless’s attention, the dragon perked up and scurried up onto the roof. The Night Fury happily ate the treat while Jackson retrieved his staff from the saddle while prepping the hand mechanism for use instead of the stirrups. “I’ll keep him busy, you get out of here and get your head on straight, I’ll be here waiting when you get back.”

The Viking looked torn for a moment before his father’s voice broke through the early morning tranquility again. “Hiccup?”

“Thanks, Jack, I’ll owe you one,” Hiccup gave the teenager a peck on the cheek before flipping the latched to switch his prosthetic from one for walking to the one made specifically for flying. Grabbing his helmet from the saddlebag and jamming it onto his head, Hiccup clambered onto the Night Fury’s back where he laid flat against the saddle and used the hand gears to shift the red tailfin open. Another flick of his wrist and they were gone.

Jackson watched as the two took off, flying down and low, heading straight across the choppy waters before his attention was pulled back to the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe calling for his heir. Standing up, the brunet made his way over to the opposite edge the Dragon Rider had taken off from and glanced down at the large man below.

“He’s not here,” Jackson said catching the chief’s attention as he stepped off the side of the hut and allowed gravity to take hold. His staff caught on the side of the roof which was used to decrease his speed, though he misjudged the distance and ended up tightening his hold on the gnarled piece of wood too late. The wood slid out of his hand as he landed on his feet, stumbling slightly. A massive hand on his shoulder steadied him which had amber eyes glancing up into green eyes very similar to Hiccup’s own though they were surrounded by age.

In the years that Jackson had come to know the chief, the once immortal teenager could say with certainty the chief had aged well for a mortal man. He hadn’t lost any of his muscle mass or slowed down—if anything, he sped up—and didn’t hunch over, though he did tower over the brunet. The only signs time had wrought on the man were the various wrinkles across the man’s brows and the grey hair slowly creeping into his otherwise unruly red mane. Which was more noticeable in his braided beard and mustache than the hair on his head.

Time hadn’t managed to change his wardrobe too much either. He still wore his long green tunic with scalemail covering the vital areas along with spiked leather arm bracers and a large horned helmet. The only difference was the new brown fur cover the Druid had given to him as a gift for Yuletide to match the new fur lined leather boots Hiccup had gotten for him on his last birthday.

“We had a bit of a disagreement the other day and I told him I wasn’t going to participate with him in the races today. I think he might be avoiding me, sorry sir,” Jackson explained

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me sir?” Stoick the Vast chuckled as he reached up and dislodged the gnarled wooden staff from the roof and handed it to the Druid.

“I don’t know, a few more? It just doesn’t seem right to call you by your name, you’re the chief of the tribe after all,” Jackson offered with a grin, shrugging his shoulders as the two made their way inside the blacksmith stall. Though it wasn’t just a blacksmith stall anymore, but the central hub for all things dragon. The place had changed since the burnet first arrived, expanding from a small two workstations area to a multi-station shop with various of Hiccup’s own inventions scattered about to make jobs simpler.

“Not for much longer,” the older man mumbled underneath his breath as the Druid weaved around the clutter. Brushing a few small scraps of metal on Hiccup’s workbench into a tidy pile and organizing some of the skewed about papers into a stack before moving over to Finn’s workbench.

“What was that?” Jackson asked innocently despite having heard every single word clear as he set his staff down on his workbench and let out a sharp whistle. There was a thump before lumbering footsteps echoed as Grump crashed into various objects while staggering inside. Taking the pile of scrap metal from Hiccup’s workbench, he threw it to the Boulder-class dragon who greedily gobbled them up before setting the dragon to work by lighting the forges for the day.

“Why not call me Dad instead?” Stoick simply stated which had the Druid’s cheeks blossoming a bright red. He knew that Stoick knew about his and Hiccup’s courtship, he was one of the few people who did outside of himself and Hiccup. However, it was still weird to talk about the courtship with Hiccup’s father of all people. That and it was a big deal to call the chief ‘Dad’.

“But… uh… that… I mean, that’s…” green eyes softened as they watched Jackson and realization struck Stoick. His son hadn’t asked the Druid yet.

“Why don’t you tell me what my son did this time to have you back out of the races?” the chief took pity on Jackson and changed the subject. The teenager visibly relaxed before going about by taking off his cloak—the warmth of the newly lit forges producing vast waves of heat—revealing the Gronckle Iron shield strapped to the brunet’s back which raised a single red eyebrow but Stoick didn’t say anything as it too was set aside on top of his cloak.

Jackson stumbled as he grabbed a piece of parchment off his own workbench intending to take inventory of the items in the shop, making notes on what was low or just gone altogether since the last time he was on Berk. His hand stalled for a moment before resuming in its search for a charcoal pencil to write with as he debated on what to tell the chief. Knowing the truth was the best answer, he went with that.

“He called me short.”

“Hate to break it to you Laddie, but you are short,” a new voice joined the conversation which had Jackson turning around to locate the two new arrivals who he wasn’t sure if he wanted to smile at or fix with a glare.

The first one, the one who had spoken up—Finn Hofferson—was just as tall as Stoick with a dead straight blond beard—though now it was more grey than blond, not that anyone would tell him that—while the end of his mustache was tapered off with pieces of twine. Dark eyes held a wisdom in them which only came with age that didn’t seem to show in his otherwise toned muscle mass. The man wore a traditional Viking helmet with horns sticking straight up and a typical brown tunic with cotton pants. The battle-axe strapped to his side spoke of his prowess as a warrior along with the scars littering his bare arms save for the gold armlet secured to his left bicep.

Next to him was another blond Viking, though he only had a thickly knotted mustache with very little hair on his head to speak of. His helmet did a good job of hiding the fact he had gone bald but the brunet and the Thorston twins had stolen it on one occasion for a prank and they all knew better. Unlike his companion, the man was on the heavier side—not to say he didn’t have muscle because he did—and was rather short. His clothing was in tatters despite him wearing durable sail material sewn into a tan shirt underneath a brown fur vest and striped wool pants. What drew most people’s attention was his right peg leg and his left interchangeable stub of an arm that currently had a brush attachment in place. The only thing of real value he wore was an identical gold armlet on his left bicep that matched Finn’s; which it should have, seeing as Gobber the Belch was the man’s husband.

“Aye, you are on the shorter side of average,” the blacksmith agreed.

“I will tell you _all_ what I told Hiccup, I am _not short!_ You Vikings are all _freakishly_ tall,” Jackson huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and proceeded to glare at the Hofferson.

“Keep telling yourself that Laddie, keep telling yourself,” Finn laughed which had the brunet standing straighter to give the illusion he was taller than he actually was. This only caused the other two men surrounding him to join the Hofferson in his merriment and had Jackson turning his back on the trio of laughing men as he stalked away. He had inventorying to do after all.

The things he did for Hiccup.


	3. Rest After the Races

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quick chapter I promised you last week. See ya in two weeks!
> 
> CatherineADurr: I'm just going to say reading your review (and may others like it) had me glad I decided to post this story after all. I adore when readers giving me feedback on things I think are being overlooked despite me agonizing over if Snotlout would really do that or if Astrid said this in such a way that it wouldn't stay true to her character. Thank you!
> 
> Titania_queen_of_fairys: Quick, tell me what Hiccup's petname for Jackson means. I just googled it and picked one, but when I went back to look for the meaning (because I'm an idiot and didn't write it down the first time) I get different translations. Anyways, I'm glad I picked something that had a born and bred Dane giggling to themselves at a petname. :)
> 
> LoveOfGLEEK: Welcome to HTTYD fanfics and the chaotic series of my creation. Hope to see you around more.

“Congratulations on your win,” Jackson called out to Astrid as she finally made it through the throng of her adoring fans and into the less crowded stables where the next round of competitors were busy preparing for their own races. She gladly took the wet cloth handed her way and began to wash off the face paint flaking off while the brunet—with the help of a few fae—ushered Stormfly into her stall where fresh water and a basket full of fish were waiting for her.

“Thanks. It was a tough one though, what with Snotlout and Fishlegs giving the sheep to Ruffnut,” Astrid grumbled into the cloth.

“Yeah, I saw that; what was with them? I’m surprised Heather didn’t roast Snotlout for giving away their win,” Jackson commented, leaning back against the Deadly Nadder’s stall.

Astrid snorted as she finished cleaning up and threw the dirty cloth into a nearby rowan bowl where it was quickly swiped up by a green orb of light. “Yeah, I asked him about that too. Apparently, Fishlegs has been pining away over Ruffnut and to get her attention, he was giving her all the sheep he caught.”

“Hmm, that explains why he was giving Ruff the sheep,” the Druid hummed before making a gesture with his hand in reminiscent of Hiccup, “but what about Snotlout, that doesn’t explain why _he_ was giving the Viking who tried to bury him alive for a few hours the sheep too, especially when he’s already courting Heather and they were working as a team for this race.”

“I thought Fishlegs’s idea was sweet and asked Snotlout to help him,” Heather answered as her head poked out from the stall right next to Stormfly’s. She propped her elbows against the stall’s gate and rested her head there. “Though, I meant for him to discreetly give the sheep to Fishlegs so he could give them to Ruffnut, not to give them to her himself.”

“Babe, I said I was sorry!” Snotlout defended himself as he came out of Hookfang’s stall on the opposite side of Windshear’s.

“I know,” the raven-haired shieldmaiden appeased the pouting Viking by planting a kiss on his cheek.

“So why weren’t you and Hiccup in the races? I thought you two made up after that _little_ misunderstanding,” Snotlout asked with a grin on his face and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Snotlout, you have no room to talk, you’re shorter than me,” Jackson growled out, eyes flashing as he sent a small bolt of lightning at the Monstrous Nightmare rider’s feet, stinging him just enough to produce a manly yelp. This time though, he didn’t receive any sympathy from Heather. “And we did resolve the misunderstanding. Hiccup just needed time to himself to clear his mind and went for a flight. I am pretty sure he wasn’t thinking clearly enough to remember the races to be truthful. Though, he has been gone for a while.”

Astrid shared a look with the other shieldmaiden which went unnoticed by Jackson as the brunet’s brows furrowed together in concern. “I could see if I can find him, I have to patrol the outer grid for the Berk Guard anyways.”

“I think it would put all our minds at ease, we don’t need the chief’s son going missing now,” Heather agreed.

“Well, not all of us. I don’t think he’s noticed anything else going on around him that doesn’t revolve around Ruffnut,” Snotlout said pointing across the way to where Fishlegs was hopelessly pining after the blonde Thorston. Ruffnut was too busy brawling with her brother to notice the lovely bunch of flowers he brought her. She never would either, not with Barf reaching over his stall and taking a chomp out of the arrangement, leaving behind only the stems.

“He needs help,” Jackson facepalmed.

“Lots of it,” the others all agreed.


	4. Searching Does Not Always Lead to Finding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the clarification Titania_queen_of_fairys (and the Danish language)! It helps immensely.
> 
> As promised, the next chapter...which has no Jack in it >.<. Yeah, so I couldn't figure out how to add him and after writing the scene, I just didn't want to scrap it entirely. Hope you all enjoy.

Deep blue ocean waters rolled in a never-ending rhythm, rising to meet the utterly boundless sky before crashing back down. It was the song of the sea and for one black speck shooting across the horizon—creating a wake behind them—it was the sound of liberty. It was unbridled freedom at its best and Hiccup was indebted to Jackson for providing him the opportunity to get away to listen to the melody.

With the new saddle design allowing him to lay across the Night Fury’s back, Hiccup and Toothless reached greater speeds and maneuverability than they’d ever had before. Neither dragon nor rider hesitated to dip down to fly along the ocean’s surface where a pod of Thunderdrum—easily dwarfing them—breached the waves. Pulling on one of the hand levers, the Dragon Rider reduced their speed to maintain their position in the middle of the pod, green eyes narrowing through the slits of his mask at the massive Tidal-class dragons. Spotting a lighter blue Thunderdrum diving below the surface in front of them, Hiccup moved the hand lever back into its original position and sped up.

When the massive dragon was fully submerged, the Viking yanked the lever down, effectively closing the red tailfin. Immediately they dipped down, rolling over as the light blue Thunderdrum surfaced and Toothless effortlessly flew through the small gap between the water and the Tidal-class dragon’s gigantic wing.

“Yeah!” Hiccup hooted and hollered as they made it through and he pulled the lever and the tailfin flared out. Turning his head to look behind him, the Dragon Rider waved to the head of the pod. “See ya around, Thornado. Give my regards to Bing, Bang, Boom.”

There was a loud sonic like roar which had the Viking smiling as he fully deployed the red tailfin and Toothless jackknifed skywards. The sudden rolling and tumbling through the ethereal cloud-scape was a surprise seeing how it was all the Night Fury’s doing. Laughter bubbled up in Hiccup’s throat which he did nothing to hold back. Transferring the controls switch from the hand gearshifts to the foot pedals, the Dragon Rider pulled himself up into a sitting position and dragged the hand levers down to lay flush against the saddle, keeping them out of the way.

Due to the brief moment of distraction, the auburn-haired Viking missed Toothless bringing them up behind a colony of high-flying Timberjacks and was taken back to find them flying at the tail end of the colony’s formation. Hiccup didn’t mind. It was soothing to fly behind the Timberjacks. Their fly pattern was slow and tranquil in a different aspect when compared to the serenity Hiccup received when speeding across the ocean on Toothless’s back. As the colony pulled away a thought struck him and the Dragon Rider found himself liking the idea more and more with each passing second.

Standing up in the stirrups to get as good of a look at Toothless’s face as he was going to get, Hiccup patted the Night Fury on the side. “What do you think, Bud? Wanna give this another shot?”

He fully expected Toothless to tense up and wasn’t surprised when he felt the muscles under him tighten. Hiccup was slightly annoyed by the Night Fury’s refusal to make eye contact but didn’t need to see Toothless’s eyes to know they were narrowed with the irritation the dragon felt. He was not, however, expecting Toothless to grumble and shake his head in protest.

“Toothless! It’ll be fine. We can do this without Jackson, I invented this saddle for that very reason. _He’s_ the one always jumping off, not me,” Hiccup sought to pacify the dragon while pulling the stirrups all the way forward—fully extending the tailfin—and clipping it into place. Once he heard the click, he pulled another lever near his foot to lock the pedals in place and then unhooked his safety lines from the saddle. “Ready?”

The Night Fury snorted unenthusiastically but his rider paid him no heed and slid off the side of the dragon. The dragon watched as Hiccup peeled away from him, shouting in joy as he plummeted further away. Shaking his head, Toothless dove after the senseless Viking and easily caught up. He reduced his speed by flaring out his wings just slightly and controlled his descent to match Hiccup’s. Together the two fell, spiraling through the air, face-to-face and despite Toothless’s earlier misgivings, his rider could tell he was having fun. The way his tongue was hanging out and flapping in the wind was a good indication.

Slipping his hands through a pair of leather looped bands strapped near his ankles, Hiccup yanked. Twin sheets of leather unfurled as he extended his arms. The triangular pieces of material caught the wind, snapping the leather opened and revealing the makeshift wings that had him gliding through the air. He teetered back and forth out of control due to instability which was solved when he reached across his torso—further destabilizing his flight—and triggered the coil that had a dorsal fin springing up from his back, stabilizing his flight. There was a little bit of turbulence, but he had managed it with only a bit of difficulty.

Glancing behind him, Hiccup grinned upon seeing Toothless gliding there, just waiting for something to go wrong. There wasn’t anything which could bring his current mood down. Not now, not when his freedom was palpable. For the moment, he and the dragon flying beside him were the same. Feeling the same gust of wind tearing passed them, the same rush of adrenaline, the same freedom that was independently together.

When his altitude began to close in on the cloud covering they were soaring over, Toothless released a small blast of plasma just ahead of his rider. The tiny explosion created a draft of warm air bursting outwards which the flight suit’s wings caught and in turn increased the Viking’s altitude a bit. Another two blasts had him soaring higher than before. The only thing able to bring Hiccup’s mood down was the slight disappointment he felt that Jackson wasn’t here to share in the success of his newest suit, especially since the Druid had helped him craft the wings.

“This is amazing!” Hiccup shouted entering a layer of clouds, momentarily obscured his vision. The feeling of euphoria lasted only a few moments longer. When the density of the clouds dissipated some, so did his euphoria as a towering rock formation was exposed. A rock formation which he was heading straight towards.

“No longer amazing!” the Dragon Rider gulped and tried to direct himself away to no avail, bringing him uncomfortably close to a hard impact. Seeing no other option, he shouted for help. “ _Toothless!_ ”

The Night Fury flung himself forward. His mobility severely limited due to the locked tailfin and Toothless was forced to beat his wings twice as hard to put on the extra speed needed to reach his rider currently hurtling on a collision course. The dragon strained to reach out and wrap his paws around Hiccup. Barely managing to safely tuck the fragile human to his body, the disabled dragon did not, however, have the ability to pull up at a steep enough angle to avoid the rock stack completely.

“Oh, no!” a pair of green eyes slammed shut as Hiccup’s body instinctively tensed, readying for impact.

Toothless, on the other hand, kept his eyes wide open and waited for just the right moment to release the plasma gathered in his mouth at the jagged rocks. Wings wrapped around the squishy human to protect him from the obliterated rocks raining down around the Night Fury as they hurtled through the crumbling formation. Crashing through the trees on a neighboring rock peak, Toothless’s hold became tighter in hopes of preventing any harm due to tumbling across uneven terrain. Finally, the dragon and his rider came to a rest on a small plateau and only after opening his eyes to glance around for any potential threats—which there were none—did the Night Fury allow his wings to unfurl.

Hiccup had half a mind to switch his prosthetic from the flight setting to a more appropriate setting for the terrain before staggering to his feet. He stumbled a bit before catching his balance and brushed the leather straps connecting the wings of the flight suit off each of his arms. Each leather wing was then carefully rolled up and secured back in position on his legs to keep them from being damaged. The Viking didn’t want Jackson to go through all the trouble of obtaining the leather and persuading the fae to enchant it for a second time, because if he was being honest, he had a feeling the Druid would rebel.

“That really came out of nowhere. We gotta work on your solo gliding there, Bud. That locked-up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue maneuvers, eh?” the Dragon Rider commented with a glance back at Toothless. The Night Fury made a few grunts which sounded more offensive than usual as he slowly got to his feet. Both of them froze for a second before heads whipped towards the deafening noise coming from behind. They could only watch as the hole created by the plasma blast had the rock stack collapsing in on itself and disappearing into the waters below.

Turning away from the newly cleared space, Toothless gave his rider a pointed look with ear-plates flat against his head and eyes narrowed, letting out a low growl of displeasure. His rider responded with a shrug of his shoulders and went back to prepping the flight suit for future use. Hiccup failed to notice the disapproving look from the Night Fury as he reeled in the dorsal fin via the coil mechanism built into the belt and wrapped around his torso. Removing his helmet, the Viking ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up to keep the locks from sticking to his head.

Green eyes immediately caught sight of the new land before him. He didn’t even have to think as his feet carried him to the cliff’s edge—idly tucking his helmet underneath an arm—to get a better look. The new landmass stretched off below them as far as his eyes could see. Its tall cliffs and sea stacks were adorned with swaying gold birch trees basking in the dappled afternoon sunlight and contrasted beautifully with the low floating clouds filling the valleys.

“Looks like we found another one, Bud,” Hiccup turned towards the Night Fury who refused to look back at him. Toothless let out a deep, quiet grunt clearly not amused and made a point of shaking off the dust and pebbles covering him.

Rolling his eyes at the childish reaction, the Dragon Rider glanced at the new lands once again. He wasn’t about to stoop to Toothless’s level. Well, he wasn’t going to until a pebble whacked him on the back of the head. Jerking his head towards the offender, vivid green eyes clashed with acid green slits before the dragon turned his head upwards.

“Oh, what? Do you want an apology?” Hiccup teased walking over to the Night Fury. Toothless grumbled and shuffled so his back was facing the young man. The Viking wasn’t about to be deterred and leaned over in an attempt to force the dragon to look at him. “Is that why you’re pouting, big baby boo?”

Toothless responded with another grunt. His rider, in turn, tossed his helmet to the side and launched himself at the motionless dragon.

“Well... try this on!” the Viking grunted as he tried to tackle the Night Fury. When Toothless didn’t even budge, Hiccup was forced to change tactics and snaked arms around the dragon’s neck to put him in a headlock. Tugging and pulling at Toothless had Hiccup feeling like he was attempting to move a mountain rather than a stubborn Night Fury, even putting his whole weight behind the attack had no effect. “Ya feeling it yet? Huh? Picking up on all my heartfelt remorse?”

Toothless grunted and simply stood up on his hind legs, effectively lifting Hiccup off of his feet. The Viking flailed for a moment not sure if he should just let go or continue to dangle from the dragon’s neck. In the end, he clung on as the Night Fury ambled forward on two legs. Where Toothless was going, he had no idea. Instead, he continued to tease the annoyed dragon.

“Oh, come on. You wouldn’t hurt a one-legged…” Hiccup trailed off when they came to a halt and couldn’t stop himself from looking down on account of the cold draft coming up from underneath him. Below, green eyes found a precipitous drop and nothing more. Instinctively he scrambled to get a better grip on Toothless as a scream tore passed his lips. “Uh.. y—you’re right, you’re right. You win! You win!”

The Night Fury let out a bellow that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Toothless toppled over backwards, dropping back onto the moss-covered rock with an audible wham while pulling Hiccup back to safety. It was short lived when the mischievous dragon rolled them over and pinned the young man to the ground. Hiccup squirmed in a halfhearted attempt to break free. Throwing mock punches at Toothless who dodged and playfully retaliated with placid taps to the Viking’s head.

“He’s down! And it’s ugly! Dragons and Vikings, enemies again, locked in combat to the bitter—URFFF!” all the air in Hiccup’s lungs rushed out when the dragon flopped down on top of his rider. His head resting just below Hiccup’s chin as the Viking sprawled out defeatedly.

The Dragon Rider let out a groan that was abruptly halted thanks to Toothless’s tongue. He turned his head in an attempt to keep the dragon’s saliva from drenching his face, happy to sacrifice his clothing to the dragon’s licks but he wasn’t so lucky. The third swipe of the Night Fury’s tongue covered Hiccup’s whole face and even as he brought up his arms to shield himself, it was too late. In the end, he was covered in slobber.

“Gaaaaagh!” Hiccup grunted as he freed himself from the dragon. The young man rolled back in a tumble Jackson had taught him so he was on his feet and could shake his hands to rid them of the viscous saliva. Wiping the rest off his clothing was a task in futility. “You _know_ that doesn’t wash out.”

Toothless chortled quite pleased with himself which earned him a glare from the Viking. A smile spread across his lips as Hiccup flicked his hands towards the dragon, spraying him with some of the saliva still clinging to his fingers. The dragon reared back as the cold liquid made contact and produced a deep grunt of indignity. Licking a paw, Toothless began to clean his face as Hiccup shifted his attention back to the new land stretched out before them.

The explorer reached beneath the black leather chest plate and produced a leather-bound book tucked safely away in the hidden pocket. Hiccup got to work on unfurling the pages to reveal a giant map. There were various modifications, strips added in every direction to accommodate the ever-expanding world he discovered. Drawings indicating new lands, while crests showed the various tribes inhabiting each island, and symbols representing the local species of dragons were all done in a combination of his and Jackson’s calligraphy.

Placing a finger on Berk—which was located near the middle of the map—and tracing the path he estimated they’d taken to the new island his finger ran on to moss. Unstrapping the compartment on his right arm bracer, Hiccup peeled off a fresh strip of paper from the many hidden inside and held it out for Toothless. The dragon happily licked the back that was then affixed to the map’s outer edge. Refastening the arm bracer pouch closed, a stick with a piece of charcoal tied to the end was produced from the inside fold of the leather-bound book. One look at the tip had Hiccup pulling out the dagger from his left arm bracer to whittle a sharper end.

Securing the dagger back into place, the Viking inattentively stuck the pencil in between his teeth and held up his right arm to flip open the compass affixed to the arm bracer. Hiccup adjusted the dial to find his bearings and pulled the pencil from his mouth to record the coordinates. Only then did he begin to sketch the island below.

“So, what should we name it?” Hiccup asked glancing over at the Night Fury sitting at his side while he carefully drew the island’s outline. Toothless didn’t answer too preoccupied with gnawing at a spot under his wing. “‘Itchy Armpit’ it is. Whaddya reckon, Bud? Think we might find a few Timberjacks in those woods? The odd Whispering Death or two in the rocks? Who knows... maybe we’ll finally track down a tribe of Druids or another Night Fury. Wouldn’t that be something?” the Viking sighed and shook his head. “So, whaddya say? Should we explore some? Or should we head back? Jackson is waiting for us.”

Toothless grunted and bumped his head against Hiccup’s shoulder, letting out a low warbling which had his rider raising a hand to stroke the dragon’s head. The Night Fury’s ear-plates suddenly shot up at a familiar dragon screech which penetrated the calm serenity. Both turned away from the newly discovered land to find Stormfly coming into view with Astrid on her back. The Deadly Nadder came in for a hard landing, talons grabbing chunks of rock to slow down.

“Afternoon m’lady. Where have you been?” Hiccup greeted the shieldmaiden as she dismounted, only to be pushed out of the way as Toothless bound between her and Stormfly. He happily accepted the short petting from Astrid before crooning at the blue dragon.

“Winning races. What else?” the blonde woman answered, pulling her hood down and making her way over to Hiccup.

Hiccup groaned and hung his head. “I completely forgot about the races. Jackson has been looking forward to them for _weeks_.”

“Hmm, yeah, I think he was a little disappointed that he couldn’t participate, but he understood. Said something about you needing to get your head on straight, which begs the real question... where have _you_ been?”

Shrugging, the young man went back to work on his map. “Avoiding my dad with some help from Jackson.”

“Oh, no. What happened now?” Astrid exhaled loudly as she took a seat next to the Viking. Blue eyes scanned over the map, noting the newest additions and grinning at the memories which came with some of the older entries. Too caught up in the map and memories, neither of the two Dragon Riders took notice of what their dragons were up to behind their backs as Toothless instigated a playful mock fight with Stormfly.

“Oh, you’re gonna love this. I wake up. The sun’s shining. Terrible Terrors are singing on the rooftop. I saunter down to breakfast, thinking all is right with the world, and I get--” Hiccup abruptly stood up straight, dropping his pencil and puffing out his chest in an imitation of Stoick the Vast, “—Son, we need to talk.”

The shieldmaiden let a small smile cross her face as she adopted her leader’s sloppy slouch and nasally voice. “Not now, Dad. I’ve got a whole day of goofing off and pinning after Jackson to get started.”

Hiccup broke character, grimacing at her impression of him which turned into a glare as Astrid broke out laughing. “Okay, first of all, I—I don’t sound like that. What is this character? And-and second... what is that thing you’re doing with my shoulders?” Astrid’s laughter became even louder and jostled her shoulders again in the same awkward way she had done previously. “Yeah, that’s—that’s a really flattering impersonation. Anyway, he goes—" Hiccup cleared his throat and resumed Stoick’s thick brogue, “—you’re the pride of Berk, son, and I couldn’t be prouder—”

“Aw, thanks, Dad. I’m pretty impressed with myself too,” Astrid interjected again with her own impression of Hiccup which had the Viking breaking character once more when she made the same gesture Jackson had done a few hours previously.

“When have I ever done that with my hands?”

Looking at her own hands, she groaned and weaved her fingers together to keep from making the gesture again. “You just did. You’ve already got Jackson doing it and now me as well.”

Pausing, the auburn-haired man thought about it before a smile crossed his face. “He does, doesn’t he?”

A growl from behind them was taken as Toothless’s affirmative answer to Hiccup’s question which pleased the Night Fury rider. However, if either of the Dragon Riders bothered to turn around, they would have seen Toothless tugging at one end of a stick—which for the dragons was a stick but a huge log to the humans—with Stormfly yanking at the other end in a game of tug of war. If either of the two Vikings spotted the display, they would’ve definitely blamed the dragons’ behaviors on Jackson. It was most likely his influence on them after all.

Shaking his head, Hiccup’s voice took on the deep brogue once more. “You’re all grown up, and since no chief could ask for a better successor, I’ve decided—”

Astrid straightened, her face brightening as it finally dawned on her where her leader was heading.

“— _to make you Chief!_ Oh, my gods!” Jumping to her feet, she rushed over to the young man and punched him in the side. “Hiccup, that’s amazing!”

Hiccup reeled back at the punch in an attempt to absorb some of the blow. Yet the shieldmaiden’s fist made contact with the release button for his flight suit’s dorsal fin and triggered the mechanism. The fin sprung open as the Viking let out a yelp but not one of pain. He was too busy looking down at the delicate mechanism to make sure it hadn’t been damaged by the direct blow to feel anything himself.

“You’re gonna wear out the spring coil. The calibration is very sensitive!” Hiccup chastised, winding the dorsal fin back in.

Astrid wasn’t paying attention though, too busy laughing and reveling in the feeling of jubilance from the announcement. It was weird, the two different reactions he received when he had told Jackson and Astrid about his impending chiefhood. Whereas Astrid was clearly excited for him, she didn’t even notice his uneasiness. Jackson, alternatively, was happy for him too but he had seen how much the announcement had tilted Hiccup’s whole world. The Druid had even gone as far as procuring time for Hiccup to get his head on straight and calm down to think things through rationally. A calmness he’d almost achieve only for it to morph into apprehension border lining anxiety.

His anxiety didn’t have a chance to come to fruition when out of nowhere, the two Dragon Riders were blown over by their dragons. Toothless knocked Hiccup off his feet as he ran away from the Deadly Nadder with the log in his mouth while Stormfly had Astrid spinning in circles as she chased after the Night Fury for the large piece of wood. Groaning, the auburn-haired young man pushed himself up and looked over at Astrid who was sprawled out as well.

Looking at each other, one word left both of their lips. “Jackson.”

Emotionally drained, Hiccup let out a sigh as he picked himself up and made his way over to Astrid. “Yeah, so... this is what I’m dealing with.”

“What did you tell him?” Astrid asked excitedly, taking the hand offered to her and allowing the Viking to pull her up.

Running his hand through his hair, Hiccup looked away. “I didn’t. By the time he turned around, I was gone.”

The shieldmaiden listened absentmindedly as she walked over and picked up the forgotten map. Folding it up, she began pacing around Hiccup while processing all she’d been told. Moreover, she started to ponder what that would mean for him: a loud.

“Well, it’s a lot of responsibility. The map will have to wait for sure, and Jackson will be happy to fly Toothless since you’ll be too busy...” Astrid trailed off as it finally sunk in what was bothering her leader. Wincing as her previous words registered, the shieldmaiden felt the heat rising to her cheeks due to her insensitivity.

She turned to Hiccup, biting her bottom lip which was all the apology the Viking before her needed. A slight nod from him told her she’d been forgiven. Still, she didn’t move when Hiccup took a step forward and retrieved the map from her limp fingers as he walked passed her to overlook the landmass below.

“It’s not me, Astrid,” the young man finally spoke, taking a seat on the ledge. “All those speeches, and planning, and running the village... that’s his thing.”

“I think you’re missing the point. I mean, _chief_. What an honor. I’d be pretty excited,” the shieldmaiden gently probed, not wanting to cross a line again but still pushing his boundaries as she always had. Hiccup understood where the blonde maiden was coming from, yet it fell flat since she didn’t understand where he was coming from. She couldn’t comprehend what the honor she spoke of could do to a person, the weight it put on one’s shoulders. He had seen his father support that weight for years, he had also seen how it had eaten at the man to the point he didn’t have time for himself or his son. That wasn’t something he wanted for himself. It definitely wasn’t something he wanted for Jackson.

Looking down at the bound map, the auburn-haired Viking shifted it from hand to hand before stowing it away, back into his leather chest plate for safety. “I’m not like you. You know exactly who you are. You always have. But—” he trailed off remembering liquid amber eyes flashing when he admitted to not knowing who he was and Jackson responding with the utmost certainty he knew exactly who Hiccup was, “—but I’m still searching.”

Hiccup sat there at the edge, looking tied down and restless to the point Astrid found herself approaching the Viking and settling down beside him. She looked out at the distant horizon briefly before observing her fraught leader. Reaching up, she began to weave another braid into his hair next to the one Jackson had done a few nights ago.

“What you’re searching for... isn’t out there, Hiccup,” she spoke calmly finishing the braid and placing her hand over his chest. “It’s in here. Maybe you just don’t see it yet.”

“Maybe. But, y’know... there is something out there,” Hiccup answered only half listening to what the shieldmaiden had said, his vivid green eyes locked on the horizon keenly.

“Hiccup,” Astrid sighed utterly exasperated, wishing that Jackson was here to help her knock some sense into the Night Fury rider’s thick skull. However, a rough callused hand grabbed her chin and force her to look out before them. It took blue eyes a moment to fixate on what he had already seen but when she did, her jaw dropped at the sight of smoke plumes rising from a misty valley in the distance.


	5. Drago’s Dragon Trappers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On phone to post - can't do much to comment. Hope you all enjoy.

Toothless flew over the fjord, winding deeper through undulating crimson and gold forests that steadily transformed into chard husks of smoldering wooden corpses. Stormfly followed a little off to the side. Her pace slowing slightly at the gasp coming from her rider. Never before had they seen this scale of sheer destruction on such a massive level. In the face of the obvious devastation surrounding them, neither Dragon Rider hesitated or contemplated turning around. If anything, their determination to keep going grew the deeper they flew into the ash and wafting smoke of a wasteland.

It took them awhile to reach the epicenter of the destruction where the landmass opened up to a sheltered harbor. In the middle of the harbor was what could only be described as an explosion of ice. Shards thicker than a Monstrous Nightmare and longer than the Red Death jutted up and outwards as an eerie marker of what used to be some kind of fort. Nothing was left save for boards of wood frozen in the harden water.

Looking over his shoulder, Hiccup could see the blues of the shieldmaiden’s eyes even at such a distance as she stared up at the unnerving image, jaw slightly a jar. Astrid must have sensed his gaze because in the next second her mouth clicked shut and blue eyes hardened, meeting his own. A single auburn-haired eyebrow rose, an unvoiced question answered with a simple nod of blonde locks.

“Right then, stay close,” Hiccup advised, his voice falling into the more authoritative tone he used when commanding the Dragon Riders. It was a tone she knew not to disobey and followed the Night Fury’s lead as they drew closer to what could only be Niflheim on Midgard. They flew through the suspended remains of what had once been buildings but now were just splintered remains frozen in mid-destruction. She even saw what she thought might have been a few men inside the ice, but it was only a fleeting glimpse and one she didn’t want confirmation to. “What happened here?”

The scene was harrowing and puzzling all at once. The explosion of ice was huge and they’d only flown around half the formation with more yet to come. Too enthralled with looking at the destruction at eye level, neither rider took notice of the enormous dragon footprint on the muddy shoreline below. Toothless, however, did take notice of the foot prints slowly being eaten away at by the rising tide and in an effort to draw the Viking’s attention to the discovery, he veered off course.

“Hey, easy there, Bud,” Hiccup chastised the suddenly agitated dragon and pulled on the saddle to correct their flight path. Toothless grunted but wouldn’t budge, heading back towards the shoreline. “Toothless—”

“Hiccup!” Astrid yelled out from above, drawing his attention away from the ice formation below and on to the shieldmaiden. The exact opposite outcome of her intended warning. Hiccup never saw the strange longboat moored below, still mostly hidden by the crest of the ice formation, before it was too late. He did, however, hear the crew shout out as Toothless came into view.

“Fire!”

Head whipping forward, Hiccup was faced with a projectile heading straight for him. He had only a moment to examine the object before its purpose became clear as the object unfurled into a net. Quickly, the Night Fury rider shifted the tailfin and Toothless darted out of the way. Astrid, on the other hand, was too busy dodging a second net that she never noticed the one meant for Toothless heading straight towards Stormfly. it wasn’t something Hiccup notice right away either.

“Astrid! Look out!” but just like her earlier warning, his too came too late. The net was already enveloping the Deadly Nadder’s body. Her wings tangling in the ropes, forcing the dragon to spin uncontrollably downwards. Astrid struggled to cut them both free with a knife but only managed to free herself from the ropes. It wasn’t much of a triumph. Not when the Deadly Nadder’s frantic thrashing unsaddled her and Astrid was thrown off, freefalling away from the still bound form of Stormfly.

“HICCUP!” Astrid’s cry wasn’t necessary. Toothless was already headed for the falling shieldmaiden.

The Night Fury’s paws wrapped around her arms, snatching her out of the air a little too close to the icy landmass for comfort. There wasn’t time to do anything for Stormfly and the blue dragon hit the ice-covered ground with a sickening crack. It was only due to their past experiences the Dragon Riders could differentiate the sound of a dragon’s bone breaking and ice cracking. Thankfully, it had been the latter of which, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. Not with the completely helpless Deadly Nadder tangled in the netting as men from the moored ship rushed out from various hiding places, converging on Stormfly within seconds.

Whoever they were they were definitely trained at taking down a dragon. Ropes were thrown over Stormfly in various strategic spots and tightened to keep the struggling dragon pinned to the ground. A few of the other men stood to the side, spears in hand, ready to attack if need be. It was only when the men tightening the rope signaled to the weapons wielding warriors that they moved closer. A mistake on their part as Stormfly lashed out with her tail which had failed to be secured. Spikes flew out in all directions at those attempting to trapped her. It was only because the men carrying spears also had shields with them that no one was killed in the sudden barrage of spines.

“Watch the tail!” the same voice as before shouted. Hiccup was beginning to think whoever was the owner of the voice was also the leader of these men. Even as the chief’s son came to this conclusion, a large raven-haired man lunged for Stormfly’s head and effectively dodged another spray of spikes. He succeeded where his men failed by twisting the Deadly Nadder’s head to the side and taking her down like he was rounding up an unruly yak. “Tie those legs up!”

Vivid green eyes fixated on the tall man—taller than himself from the looks of things—deftly tying Stormfly’s gnashing jaws shut, wrangling her into submission with well-defined muscular arms. Clearly, he was a pro among pros and definitely the leader. The heavy tan fur wrapped over the top of a red wool tunic in a style never before seen in the archipelago region was of a finer quality than the rest of the men. Thick grey pants matched the grey arm warmers on his wrists and two short swords were attached to either of his hips. When the man looked up, Hiccup was faced with a handsome face covered with weird blue tattoo on his cleanly shaved face, and gleaming, intelligent brown eyes that only caught a fleeting glimpse of the fast flying Night Fury.

The tell-tale whine of plasma building up inside of Toothless’s mouth rang out, catching all of the men’s attention, more specifically, the leader. “Huh, is that what I think it is?”

Hiccup didn’t pay him any heed as he forced Toothless to come in for a landing instead of attacking out right. Astrid didn’t bother to wait and leapt from the Night Fury. The shieldmaiden hit the ground running, shouting the Deadly Nadder’s name as she dodged a few men to get to her dragon. Hiccup wasn’t far behind her, bounding out of the saddle, his feet planting themselves on the ground as Toothless landed. Immediately, the dragon took an offensive position and crouched down low with teeth gleaming as they kept the built-up plasma at bay, ready for use when the need arose.

“ _Stop!_ ” the Head of the Dragon Training Academy commanded. Yanking Inferno out of its holster and pressing the hidden button on the side. From the dragon head with its maw ajar sprang forth a telescoping rod frame bursting with flames. He needn’t have to waved the flame covered sword around defensively to force the armed men back away from his in fear. But it helped to calm his beating heart.

“What are you doing?” Astrid demanded from behind the auburn-haired Viking, wishing she had the forethought to grabbed the axe currently tied to Stormfly’s saddle and out of reach. Instead, she had to make do with her dagger still clutched tightly in her fist.

“Back again?” the leader snarled, storming their way. Upon getting a better look at Toothless crouched behind Hiccup, he halted in his tracks. Brown eyes nearly fell out of his head in recognition. “Soil my britches... that is a Night Fury. Thought they were all gone for good.” Completely disregarding the danger the two members of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe posed to him, the unidentified man turned his back to Hiccup and Astrid to address his underlings with a large grin on his face. “It looks like our luck’s had a turn for the better, lads! Don’t think Drago has one of those in his dragon army.”

“Dragon army?” Astrid echoed as she agitatedly twirled the dagger in her hand, almost throwing it at the closest man when the group erupted into shouts of excitement but held herself back. Barely.

Hiccup looked equally confused yet he didn’t falter, wanting to resolve the situation peacefully with words; granted, he wasn’t naïve enough to lowered his weapon in the current heated atmosphere either. “Look, we don’t want any trouble.”

“Ha!” the raven-haired man sneered one hand resting on the hilt of his short sword and the whine in Toothless’s throat became louder. A low mutter began to build causing the Dragon Riders to tense further. Whatever these people thought they had done, it was bad. “You should’ve thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!”

“What are you talking about?” the shieldmaiden growled at the accusation. Hiccup, on the other hand, lowered his burning blade slightly as he took in the icy destruction around them once again. Vivid green eyes darting from the wooden planks in the ice and the moored boat, while is brain place the pieces together.

Gesturing his free hand at the ruins around him, the Viking stared the raven-haired man down. “You think we did this?”

“Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is,” the man scoffed waving to the struggling Stormfly behind him, “without do-gooder Dragon Riders sneaking in to rescue them.”

“What do-gooder?” Hiccup asked looking to Astrid for answers. She shook her head to indicate it hadn’t been any of the riders from Berk to have caused such destruction, something he had only briefly considered but her negative reply had his heart pounding at the implications. Turning his attention back to the present and towards the men now identified as dragon hunters—the very thought had his skin crawling; they’d dealt with enough dragon hunters to last a lifetime as it was—with a mixed look of disgust and interest. “There are other Dragon Riders?”

“You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me,” the man jabbed his finger at the Vikings and began to slowly move even closer to the trio. A small plasma blast from Toothless near the dragon hunter’s feet had him pausing and turning on his heels to walk around the group as if it hadn’t fazed him. That had the Night Fury snarling, stepping closer to the two members of his pack protectively. “You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?”

“Drago what-fist? Does anything you say make sense?” the chief’s son tried not to laugh at the name as he collapsed the flameless telescoping blade back into the hilt of Inferno. He couldn’t help it, the name sounded so ludicrous he couldn’t suppress the smile splitting across his face. He was getting as bad as Jackson, making light of impending threats right in front of potential enemies’ faces. Not the best of ideas, but it seemed to throw the man off causing him to stumble as he continued on his path around the trio.

“He’s expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow,” one of the other hunters groused.

“And Drago don’t take well to excuses,” a second man weakly added.

The leader pulled down the top of his tunic, revealing a large branding-iron scar on his torso in the shape of a dragon skull split by a sword. “This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future.”

Shaking his head and clipping Inferno back to his leg, Hiccup offered up his hands to show he wasn’t a threat. “Look, we don’t know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice-spitting dragon, or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay? Just give us back our dragon, and we’ll go, strange, hostile person whom we’ve never met.”

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Eret. Son of Eret. Finest dragon trapper alive,” the man introduced himself, mockingly bowing. The motion did little to hide his hands wrapping around the one of the short blades’ hilts. The Dragon Riders were ready when he drew the blade. A bit off put when he didn’t surge forward to attack as either of them had been expecting, but used it to point at Toothless instead. “After all, it’s not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury.”

The insinuation had the black dragon letting out a roar in warning. “And this is Toothless. He says we’re going. _Now._ ”

Eret laughed humorously. “They all say that. _Rush ‘em, lads!_ ”

A number of the dragon hunters—trappers, whatever they called themselves—rushed forward. None knew what it meant to take on a Night Fury so none were prepared when Toothless let out a blast skywards. They might have been expecting the dragon to attack them head on, but they weren’t expecting the massive spire of ice to come crashing down and none were able to deal with the large chunk of ice. The spire of ice shattered when it hit the ground, forcing the men and Eret to dive out of the way or risk impalement. Making quick use of the distraction, Astrid threw her dagger, cutting through the ropes binding Stormfly before spinning around and cutting through the bola aimed at her with the same blade still in her hand. The benefit of having a weapon begotten in the breath of a dragon, especially a Deadly Nadder meant her blade would never leave her hand but a duplicate would.

“Stormfly! C’mon, go! Go!” the shieldmaiden shouted, sheathing her dagger and grabbing on to the Deadly Nadder’s saddle as she ran by. With the familiar weight in her saddle, Stormfly took to the skies. Protected from above as Toothless circled and pushed the dragon trappers back with a few low-level blasts. Only when they had flown past Hiccup and Toothless, well out of range of the moored longboat, did the Night Fury let up with his bombardment and turn to follow Stormfly. However, while arrows and bolas could no longer reach them, Eret last shout of rage did.

“You will never hold on to those dragons, you hear me?! Drago is coming for them _all!_ ”

* * *

Jackson had literally forced Finn out of the forge to get the man to leave. Not only was he a distraction to Gobber—and when exactly was the honeymoon phase supposed to be over? It had already been a year since their marriage! —but he wasn’t getting his own work done either. Finn was supposed retrieve the leathers and furs owe—which was thankfully the last of the supplies Jackson needed to finish restocking—from Gruffnut last week. It wasn’t that hard, Jackson could have easily done it by himself, but if he had then Gobber and Finn would’ve been left alone together in the forge and nobody wanted a repeat of what happened the last time that had happen. Not even the twins.

Which was why Jackson almost slammed his head into the inventory checklist when he heard the jovial greeting to the chief. Putting down a mark on his sheet, the brunet let out a resigned sigh and placed his checklist down. Moving to the front of the stall where Gobber was— _finally_ —busily shaping a metal dragon tooth at the grinder, exasperated amber eyes kept a close eye on the blacksmith to ensure he wasn’t going to slack off any more. Not when Zmey Gorynych, better known as Zmey and Gory—Muffnut and Scruffnut’s blue Hideous Zippleback—had been waiting patiently for that tooth for the last few hours. Zmey and Gory weren’t taking the chance either seeing how they stood right next to Gobber’s side, one of her heads cocked open just waiting for the new tooth as her other head watched sympathetically.

“Any sign of him?” the chief asked in a voice low enough for only his best friend to hear but not low enough for Jackson not to overhead with a little assistance from the ever-helpful winds.

Gobber flipped up his welding guard, exposing an area of unsoiled skin matching the welding eye protection and glanced at Stoick. He must have also caught sight of Jackson out of the corner of his eye too because he promptly turned back to his patient and began tapping the newly constructed tooth into place. “Ah, he’s probably flown off the edge of the world by now—” Jackson had to bite his tongue not to say anything about the world being round and not flat. He already gotten in heated debates about that twice now, "—are you sure you want that kid running the village? You can still delay your retirement.”

“Oh, he’s ready. You’ll see,” Stoick reassured the blacksmith as he paced back and forth near the opening and the brunet found himself nodding in agreement as he gathered a few pieces of scraps.

Jackson purposely gave away his presence as he shuffled through to the back of the stall where he deposited the scraps into the rune carved Rowan bowl surrounded by a ring of rocks just outside. Almost instantly, a swarm of multicolored lights surrounded the bowl, fighting over the scraps of bits and bobs before the Dewdrop Faeries flittered off with their treasures. A decent size icy-blue orb stopped long enough for amber eyes to catch sight of the small white-haired figure surrounded by the light as she bowed to him before taking off.

A sudden herald of excitement had the Druid looking away from the retreating fae and up to see the crowd backing up, making room for Toothless and Stormfly to touch down.

“Haha! There he is! The Pride of Berk!” Stoick barked out clasping the burnet on the back who stumbled at the sheer force behind the loving tap. Catching his balance, Jackson kept his ears open as he discretely made his way to the back of the stall where his workbench was located to collect a few things. He had a feeling he might be needing them with how quickly Hiccup had yanked off his helmet and stowed it away in his saddlebag before heading toward Stoick with an urgency he only had in the most dire of situations.

“Look who finally decided to show up for work. Yay,” Gobber’s loud voice easily reached the workbenches without the winds assistance, his tone teasing and Jackson caught sight of Hiccup dodging a swat of the blacksmith’s prosthetic hammer as the brunet pulled the strap to the Gronckle Iron shield over his head.

“Sorry. Got held up,” the auburn-haired man said to placated his mentor. However, his voice carried the notes Jackson had long since learned meant he was distracted and wasn’t really paying attention. His deduction was confirmed when Hiccup followed after his father in an attempt to speak with him in private. “Hey, Dad, could I have a word?”

The chief grinned and motioned Hiccup to follow, leading them some ways further into the stall and away from prying eyes and ears of the tribe. Yet, oddly enough, Stoick led them pretty close to the Druid’s workbench where he turned around, placing two large hands on his son’s shoulders. The man was all but beaming as he spoke with pure excitement of the likes Jackson had never seen before.

“Something you’re itching to tell me?”

“Uh, not quite the itch you’re thinking of, but, yes,” Hiccup established only for the chief to yank the smaller Viking forward into a one-armed hug and pull the young man along as he made his way to the front desk. The Druid hurried to put on his cloak and collect his staff before following after the two Haddocks.

“Good man!” Stoick grunted in joy, releasing his hold on the Dragon Rider to grab one of the leather blacksmith aprons from the hook and handed it to his son.

The chief didn’t even stop to make sure Hiccup was behind him as he walked up to the front desk—a windowed counter Jackson insisted on having installed after one too many times of having customers just wandering over to his workstation and scaring the daylights out of him when he was engrossed in his work—Stoick must have known his son well because Hiccup was dogging his heels. Though, he didn’t look like he was going to be putting the apron on any time soon, so the brunet plucked it out of Hiccup’s hand, which went seemingly unnoticed by the Viking, and hung it back up.

“Now, lesson one. A chief’s first duty is to his people. So...” the older Haddock reached up and grabbed the rune placard depicting who was being served. He changed it to the next one in the sequence and looked at the rune before shouting out so all the crowd in front of the stall could hear him, “…forty-one!”

“Could we just talk in private for—” Hiccup attempted to get in a word. His father didn’t seem to be hearing a thing Hiccup said and continued to shout out to the gathered group of Vikings.

“Forty—”

“That’s me! That’s me! I’m next!” an older man shouted happily. Violently began pushing his way to the front.

“I was ahead of you!”

“Excuse me, I’ve been here all day!”

“If we could just talk—” a small fight broke out in front of the forge and the Dragon Rider seized the opportunity to get his father’s full attention. He didn’t succeed and was interrupted by the Viking whose number had been called reaching the counter. The man was bouncing up and down on his heels as he slammed his matching placard down on the counter.

“Okay, okay,” the Viking tried to calm himself down enough to speak slowly, “I want one of those high seaters, with lots of spikes and a big stowage compartment!”

“Absolutely! You got it, Norbert!” Stoick nodded his head still either ignoring his son’s attempts to gain his attention or just not hearing them.

“Dad,” Hiccup all but snapped when the chief turned around and began steering them back into the shop, “this is actually a little more important than building saddles.”

“Ah-ah! Lesson two. No task is too small when it comes to serving your people,” it was good advice, Jackson had to admit that, yet he was breaking it himself. The small task of listening to his son came to mind.

“But, Dad—”

“Oh, excuse us, Grump,” Stoick interrupted yet again as he tried to squeeze by the sleeping Boulder-class dragon and one of the wooden support beams.

“—can we just talk—” the Dragon Rider continued following behind his father through the small opening. His metal prosthetic caught on the snoring dragon’s paws and he lurched forward, almost sprawling on the ground if not for the crook of the Druid’s staff catching the collar of his shirt. The gnarled piece of wood released Hiccup once he got his foot back underneath him, allowing him to follow after his father. Jackson took the easier route and went around the other side of the support post and grabbed one of the large deerskin pelts hanging from the rafters with his staff as he went.

“Yah! Grump! You let the forge die down again!” Gobber stomped over to the large lump of dragonflesh. Grump fussed about, making a show of getting to his feet but never bothering to get up. Instead, he scooted across the floor towards the forge and proceeded to cough up a slug of molten lava into the forge, effectively igniting the forge. It also splattered lava everywhere else, causing a rash of fires to crop up.

Jackson was propelled forward at the small explosion and right into the back of his Dragon Rider. Hiccup turned around and steadied the brunet who flashed him an appreciative smile before handing him the deerskin hide. Behind them, Gobber took care of the raging fires, pulling a cord for the fire extinguisher his apprentice had designed just for him. The fire extinguisher did its job and dumped water everywhere, successfully dousing the fires and Gobber.

“That’s it, Grump! You’re going up for adoption,” the blacksmith grunted as the brunet detangled himself from Hiccup and hurried over to where Stoick was filling a toolbox with tools from his son’s workbench. Reaching underneath the table, he slid an already full toolbox out and held it out to the chief.

“Thank you, son,” the redhead grinned taking the toolbox from the teenager and patting the stunned brunet on the shoulder.

“Son? Wait, I haven’t—uh,” Hiccup stopped himself, blushing heavily, and shook his head. “Dad…”

“There you go! Go on,” Stoick shoved the toolbox into the stammering young man’s hands and turned around, heading for the dragon model which was made out of necessity rather than innovation. Making dragons stand still for hours on end while building saddles wasn’t the best of ideas. “Have away.”

“Yeah, but, seriously, I really need to tell you about this new land we came across.”

“And I need to take this,” Jackson said reaching out to the frazzled Viking currently loaded down with the various items his father had handed him and took the deerskin back. Throwing the hide over his shoulder, he reached around Hiccup for the pencil he’d been using earlier and plucked it out of the mess Stoick made before following after the chief. With some difficulty—the dragon model was bigger than him after all, which didn’t mean he was short—Jackson threw the deerskin over the wooden model which Stoick adjusted.

“Another one?!” Gobber asked rolling his eyes as he pulled off his hammer prosthetic and exchanged it for the brush one from his prosthetic arm dispenser.

“Any new dragons?” Fishlegs interjected excitedly as he pushed passed the blacksmith to get inside the stall with the rest of the Dragon Riders following behind him.

Exasperated, Hiccup took the pencil from Jackson and picked up tracing an outline where the brunet had left off. “We didn’t stick around to find out. These folks weren’t particularly friendly.”

“Oh, really? Your Night Fury and Deadly Nadder didn’t bring them cheering to the rooftops?” the blacksmith asked drily as he groomed his mustache.

“No, this was different,” Hiccup snapped, his patience for the whole situation running thin. “Not the standard run-for-the-hills hoo-ha I’ve come to enjoy. These guys were trappers. Dragon Trappers.”

“ _Dragon Trappers?_ ” Jackson echoed, amber eyes growing wide, stiffening at the proclamation. His mind bringing up the hunters the Dragon Trainees, Typhan, and Commander Huffnut had apprehended near Outpost Island. Could they be a part of the same group Hiccup had run into? If so, were they aware Outpost Island currently had them under lock and key? Was Outpost Island endanger of being attacked to liberate the captured hunters? Or was this a totally separate group of hunters all together?

No one heard the Druid however, as Astrid jump forward to fill them in on what had transpired during their trip. “You should’ve seen their fort. All blown apart and stuck in giant spikes of ice. It was weird.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. And worst of all, they thought we did it!” the Night Fury rider gritted out, pressing on the pencil a little too hard and breaking off the piece of charcoal at the end.

“Hiccup,” Jackson softly whispered reaching out to grab hold of the man’s wrist and drew vivid green eyes to his pale face. Before the Druid could voice any of his concerns, tell them about the message Typhan had sent him, those vivid green eyes were pulled away from him and to Gobber.

“Y’know, you two are gonna get yourselves in _serious_ trouble one of these days. Not everyone appreciates this way of life.”

“Gobber’s right, son. Best we keep to our own,” Stoick sighed as he grabbed the sheet of leather off the dragon model. Taking it over to the table saw, the chief gave Hiccup a consoling pat on the shoulder when he walked by. “Besides, you’ll have more important uses for your time, huh-huh?” the chief lowered his voice and pull the lever to start the saw up, “once we make the big announcement!”

Hiccup pulled his arm out of the Druid’s gentle hold and stormed over to the table saw, yanking the lever back to shut the saw down. “They are building a dragon army.” The whole stall fell into a deadly silence. Jackson felt his stomach dropping as his heartrate surged. Around him the other Dragon Riders exchange worried glances. “Or-or at least the guy they work for is. Uh… ‘Dargo… Bloody Fist’ or something.”

The silence reached out further, engulfing Stoick and Gobber. Green eyes hardened with age went shockingly wide. His head whipped around to stare at the blacksmith with growing alarm.

“I’ll bloody his fist with my face if he tries to take my dragon!” Tuffnut shouted and Jackson wasn’t sure if he was serious or trying to defuse the situation. It was a fifty-fifty split either way, but if it was intended to defuse the atmosphere, it didn’t have the desired effect.

“Or mine,” Ruffnut agreed taking a step forward with a scowl on her face at the mere prospect of anything happening to Belch.

Tuffnut snorted, blue eyes rolling skywards before glaring at his twin. “You’re such a moron.”

“A beautiful moron,” Fishlegs sighed out dreamily, moving closer to the blonde-haired Viking. Rufffnut responded with an inaudible grumble, shoulders slumping as she took a step away from the Gronckle rider.

“Oh brother,” Heather huffed, doing all she could to hide her face in her hands and sent a silent prayer to the gods in thanks that she had agreed to the courtship with Snotlout. She might have killed Fishlegs otherwise.

The sound of hasty steps had amber eyes darting back over to Hiccup to find Stoick grabbing hold of him by the shoulders, wide-eyed and intense. “Bludvist? _Drago Bludvist_?”

“Uh, yeah,” the auburn-haired Viking nodded. His previous indignation at being sidelined having all but left, leaving behind pure uncertainty. “Wait… You know him?”


	6. Conflicting Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life has not been kind, you know the saying that bad things come in threes? Well, I went a step further and had three sets of bad things coming in threes. House flooded and among the items lost was my computer with the story on it, my backup flashdrive (with the backup copy of the story) was destroyed in an accident not a week later, and then someone stole the insurance payout from the flood out of my mailbox. So, yeah, that was the first set of bad luck I've had in the last few months. 
> 
> Depression hit after that and I couldn't write for awhile and not just because I had no laptop but that was part of it. I can now say I've watched all seasons of Race to the Edge, but I wish it was under better circumstance then staying at a hospital (not for me, but for my dad, which was also another set of bad things happening in threes that I really don't want to get into since there is some touch and go there still) that had Netflix.
> 
> However, things are starting to turn around (though I hate this refurbished piece of garbage of a laptop I'm working on, but it was all I could afford). I want to say thanks to all who still reviewed despite my disappearance and I shall see you in two weeks with the next chapter.

Jackson was relieved he had the foresight to throw his cloak and shield back on because he wouldn’t have had time to grab them otherwise. As it was, he was having a hard time keeping up with the two Haddocks all but running down the circular stone staircase leading to the underground stables. Toothless was having even more trouble than him in the tight space meant primarily for humans and it was only thanks to Astrid and Gobber following the dragon that the Night Fury didn’t get stuck.

“ _Ground All Dragons!_ ” Stoick’s bellow echoed throughout the tunnel and out into the cavern the dragon stables had been built upon.

“What? Why?!” Jackson could barely make out Hiccup’s startled yelp as the man disappeared from the Druid’s sight in his hurry to chase after his father. In Hiccup’s haste, the young auburn-haired Viking stumbled into the staircase’s stonewall when his metal prosthetics fought and failed to find purchase in his rush. Giving the remaining members of the group chasing the Haddocks an opportunity to catch up.

“ _Seal The Gates! Lower The Storm Doors!_ ” the chief’s shouts continued and the vast cavern housing the underground dragon stables in Berk paused at Stoick’s dramatic entrance. The silence lasted all of a second before the whole stable erupted into activity, spurred into action at the sight of their obviously distressed chief.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. _Wait!_ What is happening?” the Leader of the Dragon Rider squawked hopping on his good leg to regain his balance somewhat and awkwardly flipping a leaver on his prosthetic to rotate to an attachment that would better suit the slick stone flooring.

“You heard the man! Lock it down!” Gobber shouted at a bunch of preteen Vikings huddled in a corner and doing absolutely nothing to add further to the chaos. The trio nearly jumped out of their skin at the blacksmith’s roar and rushed off as the rattle of the massive storm doors rattled echoed throughout the cave.

“No _Dragon_ or _Viking_ sets foot off this island until I give the word!” Stoick finally slowed when he reached the edge of the high-rise rafters on the second level of the stables. A sharp eye scanned the pandemonium below and barked out a few more orders towards various groups who were moving too slow for his liking. Then the chief was on the move again, stomping down the wooden stairs to the ground composed of solid rock.

Huffing, Hiccup didn’t even have time to catch his breath as he followed Stoick down the stairs, but he did have half a mind to grab hold of the handrailing to steady himself this time. “Because some guy you knew is stirring up trouble in some faraway land?”

Stoick turned on Hiccup—his face appearing older and more weighted than the young man had ever seen—as his father spoke in the voice of a chief. “Because Drago Bludvist is a madman without conscience or mercy. And if he’s built a dragon army... Odin help us all.”

The chief all but dismissed Hiccup then, turning his attention away from the Dragon Rider to shout out additional orders and left his son behind to stew. Jackson placed a comforting hand on the upset Viking’s shoulder only for it to be shrugged off. The Druid was left there, standing with an outstretched hand, as Hiccup stormed after his father with determination in his eyes and a purpose in his steps. Jackson left his hand hanging in midair for a moment, attempting to process what just happened, before allowing the limb to fall listlessly to his side.

A bump to his shoulder had Jackson glancing over at Astrid standing there with a crooked—strained was a more apt description—smile on her face. He tried giving the shieldmaiden a somewhat weak smile back, but it mustn’t have been that convincing. For her own smile faltered which had Jackson giving up all pretense and let his own attempt at a smile fall away. A growl escaped the Deadly Nadder rider’s throat and without any warning, Jackson was being manhandled over to the arguing Haddocks. The current Captain of the Berk Guard was not about to be left behind and wasn’t going to allow Hiccup’s tunnel vision to push Jackson away either.

“Then let’s ride back out there,” Hiccup planted himself before his father and didn’t budge. “We’ll follow those trappers to Drago and talk some sense into him.”

Stoick, however, stood his ground. “No. We fortify the island.”

“It’s our duty to keep the peace!”

“ _Peace is over_ , Hiccup,” the chief snapped, his voice still grave and disheartened in equal proportions, “I must prepare you for war.”

“ _War?_ ” Jackson croaked out at the same time as the Night Fury rider. Once more, he went unheard by the Haddocks and Astrid’s firm grip on his arm became gentler and soothing to a degree.

“War? Dad, if Drago’s coming for our dragons, we can’t wait around for him to get here. Let’s go find him and change his mind,” Hiccup spoke passionately which drew in a few Vikings as they stopped what they were doing in order to listen. They were quickly set scattering away with a glare from the chief.

“No. Some minds won’t be changed, Hiccup. Berk is what you need to worry about. A chief protects his own,” which appeared to be the end of the discussion since Stoick stalked away with Gobber hobbling after him.

The trio stood in silence, at one-point Jackson opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it with a dishearten shake of his head. Astrid watched with narrowed eyes as the Druid turned and headed off into the chaos, probably to offer assistance in wrangling the distraught dragons away from the gates. Turning her attention back towards Hiccup, the shieldmaiden caught him eyeing Toothless as the storm doors began to close. The Night Fury let out a quiet warble which produced a spark of defiance in his eyes.

"Hiccup, don't," Astrid warned but his resolve was already firmly in place. The shieldmaiden knew there was no talking Hiccup out of it. Maybe Jackson could have, but not her. She could rarely talk him out of things once his mind was made up.

“I have to,” the Night Fury rider said, securing his foot in Toothless’s saddle before throwing his other leg over. The Night Fury let out a screech which drew everyone’s attention, including Stoick’s.

“ _HICCUP!_ ” the chief shouted even as Toothless blast passed him, heading for the exit. They made it underneath the first set storm doors only partially closed but when the dragon headed towards one of the numerous portholes leading to the skies, it sealed shut in front of them.

“Come on!” Hiccup grunted as Toothless veered hard to the right to keep from hitting the fortified wooden doors. Instead, the Night Fury headed directly towards the second set of closing storm doors. The only way out was near a gap between the sides of the two closing gates and was partially obstructed by a group of Gronckles being herded inwards by one of the volunteers.

Toothless put on a burst of speed, amber eyes glancing up just as the Night Fury wrapped his paws around the teenager and spun around, diving through the cleared gap a second before the lowering storm door sealed shut. From the gap on the other side, Stormfly shot out of the opening and chased after.

“ _Hiccup!_ ” Jackson shouted in outrage as he dangled from Toothless’s paws. “You better get me up there, or so help the gods, I’m going to _destroy_ you!”

“I don’t think he’s exaggerating,” Astrid commented as Stormfly caught up to them, having escaped in the same manner as the Night Fury duo, only at the opposite side of the closing gates.

“Uh, Bud, you better do what he says,” the chief’s son glanced down over the dragon’s side, catching sight of the brunet’s dangling feet. Toothless let out a soft warble and changed directions, flying upwards before releasing the teenager and doing a tight loop so he was underneath Jackson. The Druid landed in the saddle and automatically hooked his arm over Hiccup’s shoulder while leaning to the side to clip his staff into its holster.

“What in Freya’s name do you think you’re doing?” Jackson seethed peering behind them to find the chief hadn’t reopened the storm doors to pursuit his wayward son.

“Finding Drago and changing his mind,” Hiccup answered unwaveringly, shifting the gears to the tailfin and increasing their speed.

“Oh, and pray tell, how are you going to do that?”

Huffing out a deep breath, Hiccup felt tired of having to explain himself to everyone. “Weren’t you listening, we’ll find the Dragon Trappers and follow them back to Drago.”

“Hmm, simple,” the brunet hummed, but there was a patronizing note to his voice, “just one thing, how are you going to find the Dragon Trappers?”

“I…” Hiccup faltered realizing he didn’t have a clue how to locate the Dragon Trappers. He could start back at the destroyed remains of their base but the likelihood of them still being there was slim. Not only that, but they already had a massive head start in wherever they were headed and in what direction that was in, the Night Fury rider didn’t know. It would take time to find the trappers, time they didn’t have.

“Just as I thought,” Jackson let out an exhausted sigh, voice devoid of any and all emotions which finally clued Hiccup in that something was wrong. Eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, unable to comprehend why Jackson was acting as such. It was something he would have to figure out at another time though, when things weren’t so hectic, and without any other thought on the matter, Hiccup pushed his confusion out of his mind in order to concentrate on finding the Dragon Trappers.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hiccup yelped when the brunet leaned over his shoulder and latched onto his right arm.

Pulling the Viking’s arm awkwardly around his head and behind his back, Jackson fumbled with the compass. “Your compass, I told you it was enchanted so you would never get lost, that includes finding where you’re going. There, that should take us to these trappers.”

Hiccup’s arm was forced back over his head and shoved in his face. Vivid green eyes strained to adjust to the small printed rune on the compass’s face. Where there had once been the runemarks for the four cardinal directions, now there was a small picture of the strange longboat the trappers had been off to the side.

“That’s—"

“That’s amazing,” Astrid interrupted, flying close enough to get a good look at the compass.

“Yeah, amazing,” Hiccup agreed, blinking a few times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, but the image never changed. A sudden thought struck him and the young man turned in the saddle to get a better look at the Druid sitting passively behind him. “Can’t we just use this to find Drago then?”

“Have you met Drago? Do you know what he looks like? Where he is headed?” Jackson deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Uh, no.”

“Then no, we can’t. The compass only leads you towards places you’ve been, people you know, items you’ve lost, things like that,” Jackson explained with a dismissive hand wave.

“Um, good to know,” Hiccup glanced down at the little representation on the compass and changed their heading away from the new island he had found this morning and more towards a heading between that and Outpost Island.

They flew in silence after that, which was strange since Jackson was there and he tended to fill the silence whenever possible. Hiccup thought about bringing up some kind of topic, in an attempt to get the other teenager to speak with him. However, his mind kept drifting back to the Dragon Trappers’ leader, Eret if he remembered the man’s name correctly, and began formulating a plan to convince the man to change his mind. Hiccup needed to convince the trapper it was in his—and his men’s—best interest to take them to Drago in order to negotiate peacefully. Viggo had been willing to negotiate at one point—but only after they’d backed him into a corner, still—maybe this Drago would be willing to negotiate too.

All too soon did he catch sight of the Dragon Trappers’ ship, the colorful twin sails sticking out in the otherwise blue waters. It hadn’t even seemed they had been flying all that long, yet the sun’s current position in the sky begged to differ. The trappers definitely saw them coming because the little specks on deck began to run about and soon nets were flying through the air. Hiccup and Astrid outmaneuvered them with ease and dove toward the ship, landing on the deck with a clatter.

“And here I was worried we might turn up empty-handed,” Eret spoke, strolling forward as he pulled out one of his blades and pointed it at the small group.

None of the members of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe were bothered at being held at blade-point. Hiccup simply took off his helmet—he’d put it on at some point during the flight due to the colder temperatures—and clipped it to Toothless’s saddle. Beside him, still situated on Stormfly, Astrid pulled down the hood of her capelet and brandished her axe. However, a hand held up from her leader had the shieldmaiden lowering the weapon.

Hiccup’s next actions surprised everyone as he held up both of his hands in surrender. “Nope. It’s your lucky day. We give up.”

Eret’s blade wavered and his crew exchange confused looks. They weren’t the only ones, Astrid’s blue eyes darted towards Hiccup but could only catch amber eyes. Jackson shrugged his shoulders in response, knowing as much of what was going on as she did, even less really since she had dealt with the trappers once before.

Hiccup didn’t take notice of their uneasiness and dismounted. Astrid was quick to follow his lead, jumping down off of Stormfly with her axe in hand and coming to stand next to the Night Fury’s opposing side. Jackson, on the other hand, was slower in getting off, taking the time to retrieve his staff and sliding off the dragon so he was standing behind the Deadly Nadder rider. The chief’s son patted Toothless on the head—which had the Night Fury calming down and watching his rider’s movements with interest—as he walked around and grabbed a net discarded on the ship’s deck.

“That’s one Night Fury, uh, one Deadly Nadder, and—” the auburn-haired Viking threw the net over Astrid, it would have caught the Druid too, but he took a step back out of reflex and out of the net’s reach. Hiccup wasn’t done with his show and tell just yet and took the blonde woman’s axe away from her as he led her towards what could have once been a live well but had been repurposed as a holding cell complete with a heavy iron grate that was conveniently left open, “—two of the finest Dragon Riders west of Luk Tuk. That oughtta make the boss happy, right?”

“And what am I, chop liver?” Jackson growled under his breath in English, following after the Dragon Riders with Toothless at his side.

The Night Fury growled at those who were brave enough to move to corner to him with their weapons while one of his wings wrapping around the brunet to keep him safe as well. In front of them, Astrid grumbled but went along with the outlandish plan Hiccup had concocted. Her grumbles quickly turned into a grunt of displeasure when Hiccup handed her axe over to Eret as she was escorted past the man.

“What are you doing?” the Deadly Nadder rider hiss quietly as she climbed down the ladder into the live well. Her blue eyes glaring at the young man before her, clearly hating the plan. Hiccup went to follow the shieldmaiden down the ladder but was faced with Toothless’s attempt to follow him. He had to hold a hand up to keep the dragon in place.

“Toothless, stay.” Green eyes then turned towards Jackson, who just looked at him through the hood of his cloak with the most unimpressed expression and took a step closer to the Night Fury’s side.   Sighing, Hiccup flipped the metal grate latch closed as he climbed further down. “Uh, the dragons—and our Druid—don’t really care for cramped spaces, so they’ll just hang out with you. They won’t be any trouble.”

The Dragon Trappers standing in silence while watching the whole proceedings in utter bewilderment finally acted. With apparent unease, they directed their swords and spears toward Jackson who only raised a single eyebrow in response and crossed his arms over his chest uncaringly. Toothless, who was previously preoccupied with pacing back and forth around the live well, reacted when the weapons came out and immediately bolted in front of the brunet, shielding him with his right wing and snarled.

“Unless you do that,” Hiccup gritted out, wishing Jackson wasn’t so stubborn and had followed them into the confined live well. Still, he drew the trappers’ attention away from the Druid and back to him. “Wooden boat, big ocean… h-how’s your swimming?”

“Not good,” one of the other trappers readily admitted, if somewhat sheepishly.

Jackson had to bite his bottom lip, ducking his head to keep the trappers from seeing him chuckling. A burst of flames erupted from behind him in the live well, drawing amber eyes back towards the metal grating while causing the crewmen to jump back in fear. It would appear Hiccup had thrusted the Dragon Blade through the grate to further make a show of this whole charade.

“Oops. Almost forgot. Can’t have armed prisoners!” the Night Fury rider grinned, retracting the telescoping blade back into its hilt and offering the weapon up for someone to take. When no one made a move to come near due to Toothless’s presence and the potential enemies still with at least one weapon—Jackson knew both of them had countless other smaller weapons still hidden on their bodies—the Druid moved to take the blade.

“How is this a plan?” Astrid hissed quietly as the brunet crouched down and plucked Inferno’s hilt out of Hiccup’s hold.

“I’m not seeing one here,” Jackson muttered, eyes narrowed.

“Have faith, I do have a plan, just give them the blade and get out of the way,” Hiccup hissed back.

Amber eyes rolled, but he did as he was told and stood up, tossing the weapon to the nearest trapper. The man dropped the spear he had been holding and fumbled to catch the hilt, knocking it back up in the air a few times before grasping it firmly with two hands. A couple of the crewmen gathered around the trapper to inspect the innovated blade.

“Just what every Dragon Trapper needs. One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva,” the inventor of said blade commented as the man examined the pommel of the hilt, clicking one of the well-disguised buttons causing the closed dragon head to open and expel a cloud of green gas. “The other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All it takes is a spark and...”

A second curious crewman reached over and pressed another button on the hilt which turned out to be a lighter. The spark produced ignited the gas and a sudden explosion swept over the deck. Both Dragon Riders were safely tucked out of harm’s way in the live well. Jackson, on the other hand, had ducked down when he saw the man reaching over to push the second button and Toothless gladly wrapped a wing around his huddled form, protecting him from the flames.

“…oh, yeah, there you go!” Hiccup happily cheered despite all the yells and screaming going on above deck.

Toothless unfurled his wing and Jackson stood up, eyes scanning the smoke and embers surrounding them. One such ember drifted over to him and he held out his hand, willing the dying cinder to glow brighter before it burst out into a multitude of different colored sparks. The Night Fury perked up at the newly created cinders and began to paw at a lovely silvery-blue ember.

“Once they see you as one of their own, even the testiest dragons can be trained, right, Bud?” the Night Fury rider asked from where he perched upon the side of the live well, the metal grate once again opened and both Dragon Riders freely moving about.

Toothless gurgled in response talking his eyes off the silvery-blue cinder for only a minute, only to fall over when he leaned back to find the ember again. Eret didn’t even seem to care the Dragon Riders had released themselves or took notice of Toothless’s childish antics, instead, he reached over and snatched Inferno out of his underling’s hands.

“Give me that!” The lead Dragon Trapper hurled the weapon as far as he could away from the wooden longboat before whirling around on Hiccup. Though, with his back now turned on the Deadly Nadder, he missed Stormfly bolting after the glittering metal hilt. “What game are you playing?”

“Uh, no game. We just want to meet Drago,” the chief’s son shrugged his shoulders and stayed where he was. A smile graced his face when Stormfly returned in a flash, dropping his Dragon Blade at Eret’s feet and chirping happily. He knew he hadn’t needed to worry about the weapon getting lost. Eret though, he looked down at the weapon and back up at the Deadly Nadder.

“Why?” Eret grunted once again, picking up Inferno and throwing it off his ship in frustration.

“Because I’m going to change his mind about dragons,” Hiccup determinedly stated as if it was a sure thing. The reaction he got wasn’t reassuring, not when the Dragon Trapper began to laugh.

Stormfly chose that moment to return once more with Inferno, placing the hilt down on the deck and nudging it closer to Eret. The dragon looked up at the dark-haired man and chirped happily, waiting for him to continue on with their game. Eret, for his part, stopped laughing and looked at the Deadly Nadder with his face partially scrunched up, head tilted to the side, not comprehending what the dragon wanted.

Astrid giggled quietly as she pulled herself up onto the live well’s ledge and sat opposed to the auburn-haired Viking, drawing the Dragon Trapper’s attention away from Stormfly. “She can be really persuasive.”

“Once you’ve earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won’t do for you,” Hiccup added for good measure, reaching out and petting Toothless as he spoke.

“Puh!” Eret sputtered not at all convinced which had his underlings behind him laughing. “You won’t be changing any minds around here.”

Having enough, Jackson took a step around Toothless and came out from his spot in the shadows. “We can try but right here? Right now? These people are too far set in their ways, Hiccup, they couldn’t change even if they wanted to.”

“ _Jackson_ ,” the chief’s son hissed and made to grab the Druid’s cloak yet it was just out of reach.

“What did you say?” the Dragon Trapper took a step forward. A slender hand on Toothless’s head kept the dragon from growling.

“What? You need me to repeat that? Cause I can,” the brunet took a challenging step forward. “A _big strong_ _man_ like you _too_ _scared_ of dragons that he has to trap them to feel safe; you can’t try—”

“Are you challenging me?” Eret growled out as the crew members around him began to whisper under their breaths which only agitated their leader further.

“What if I am? What are you going to do about it? Prove me wrong?” Jackson tossed back, kneeling down next to Toothless to pull the lever back and splay the tailfin open. The trapper gave him a narrowed look; however, dark eyes darted over to the Night Fury with a thoughtful expression on his face. Turning his head, the Druid sent a triumphant grin over his shoulder at the Dragon Riders.

Astrid, for her part, was looking skywards, shaking her head while Hiccup was blinking rapidly with his mouth hanging a gaped. Rolling his eyes, Jackson used the end of his staff to discretely prod the auburn-haired Viking. Vivid green eyes glanced at him, which had amber eyes rolling before the brunet jerked his head in Eret’s direction.

Spurred into motion, Hiccup stood up and held out a hand to Eret. “Uh, may I?”

For a split second in time, it appeared the raven-haired man might actually take him up on the offer. But only for a split second. Eret never had the chance to come to a decision, not when the chief’s son was suddenly gone. Snatched up into the air as several dragons blurred past. The crewmen blinked in disbelieve before scrambling to various positions. All on board were thrown off balance as a flurry of wings streaked by, gashing holes in the sails and slicing through the rigging which had the boat rocking unsteadily in the harsh waves.

“Dragon Riders!” Eret shouted out in warning taking a step back, brown eyes shooting up at the sky, searching for the culprits. The skilled trapper easily tracked their movements, predicting the various dragons’ actions, while readying his crew for an attack.

Toothless let out a shriek, pushing his head underneath the Druid and tossing the teenager on his back before leaping up onto the mast. Jackson instinctually clung to the saddle, not able to get his feet into the stirrups as the Night Fury dug his claws into the fabric and scaled the sail. Another roar came from Toothless when he reached the top of the mass and spotted Hiccup in the talons of a Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon soon relaxed and sat back—giving Jackson the opportunity to situate himself correctly in the saddle—when he realized the dragon holding his rider was only Hookfang.

Even from this distance, the brunet could hear Hiccup’s shouts as recognition dawned on him as it had on the Night Fury. “Put me down! Snotlout! What—what are you doing?”

Snotlout ignored his cousin’s petulant cries as he flashed a smile at the Razorwhip and her rider flying next to him. “See how well I protect and provide?”

Raising an eyebrow, Heather pulled her battle-axe from her back and whipped it open. Flying in front of the Monstrous Nightmare, the raven-haired shieldmaiden slashed apart the net heading straight for him. Windshear’s tail caught the stray bola heading for Hiccup and shred it with her metallic spines.

“See how well I protect and provide?” Heather shot back, coming to fly on Hookfang’s other side.

Opening and closing his mouth, Snotlout settled on a gigantic grin. “You, babe, are marvelous.”

“Why thank you _sváss_ ,” the alchemist grinned before groaning. “The twins just got captured.”

“What?” Hiccup shouted, eyes darting down to see Ruffnut was tangled in a net. Cursing, the auburn-haired Viking flipped upside-down in Hookfang’s talons and kicked off, forcing the Monstrous Nightmare to release him. The momentum had Hiccup hurtling down towards the longboat. Waiting for the right moment. he shoved his arms into the straps and deployed the wings of his flight suit, gliding safely down to the longboat.

A cry of warning from Astrid about holding their fire came a bit late as another net sped towards him. Hiccup was prepared though and swerved to the side. The net completely missed the Viking but threw his balance off. He ended up colliding with the sail and out of impulse, he grabbed hold, sliding down the canvas to drop down on the deck.

“What are you guys doing here?” Hiccup shouted while yanking the straps of his flight suit off to roll up the wings. Behind him, he could hear the thump Toothless made as he landed on the deck. Off to the side, Grump landed with a heavier thump forcefully scattering the crewmen on board.

“We’re here to _rescue_ you!” Gobber replied, leaning over from on top of the Boulder-class dragon and using his mallet prosthetic to club one of the trappers on the head when he moved towards Jackson as the lad dismounted the Night Fury.

“ _I Don’t Need_ to be rescued!” the chief’s son denied as another thump rocked the boat.

“ _ENOUGH!_ ” Stoick’s voice silenced anyone who dared speak as he dismounted from the Rumblehorn, Skullcrusher.

Although, it would be more accurate to say the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe silenced almost anyone who dared to speak save for the overly confident and cocky Eret. “Well, didn’t you just pick the wrong ship, eh? I am Eret, son of—”

Stoick didn’t heed the trapper as he stalked across the deck towards his son. Even when the raven-haired man intercepted the redheaded Viking, the chief shoved him aside via a hand to his face. Eret stumbled back due to the sheer force behind the action and he would have gone back to aggravating the already pissed off Chief of Berk if not for Gobber clubbing the man over the head, laying him out flat. Not to be left out, or it could have just been he wanted a pillow, Grump lifted his head and let out a yawn before dropping back down, right over the top of the Dragon Trapper.

Eret desperately attempted to claw his way out from under the heavy dragon, panting and maybe suffocating, but only a little bit. “Get... this... thing... off... me!”

“Anyone else?” Gobber asked turning to the other crewmen with a smile on his face. The trappers looked from the one man still out cold to their leader struggling underneath Grump and all took one large step backwards, placing down their weapons in surrender. “That’s what I figured.”

“ _You,_ ” Stoick pointed at his son when he was sure there weren’t going to be any further attacks, “saddle up. We’re going home.”

“No.”

The chief had to visibly rein in his temper, gritting out his next words. “Of all the irresponsible—”

“I’m trying to protect our dragons and stop a war!” Hiccup interjected, passionately waving his arms around him. “How is that irresponsible?”

“Because war is what he wants, son!” the man roared right back which had Jackson taking a step away from the chief at the sheer rage. Stoick immediately regretted the outburst upon seeing the teenager recoil from him, especially when his son’s eyes hardened into a glare.

Sighing, the aging chief realized he couldn’t just order them around without giving them an explanation any longer. They weren’t children anymore and he couldn't shield them from the horrors he'd encountered in the past. He'd believed he'd never have to divulge the terror of his past when Krogan was defeated, hoping that with the Dragon Hunter's disappearance, they'd be left in peace. However, he could no longer keep his well-warranted fears a secret from Hiccup and the rest of the Dragon Riders.

Taking a deep breath, Stoick recalled they tail he’d only ever voiced to Gobber. “Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced. Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and that he alone could keep us safe if we chose to bow down and follow him.”

“Stupid,” Ruffnut giggled as a couple of the younger Vikings began to laugh. However, neither Hiccup nor Jackson joined the others, not when they could see the pain in the older Viking’s eyes.

“Ah, good one,” Tuffnut slapped his leg which had the proud chief dropping his head, looking unseeingly at the deck. His mind drawing him back into his memories.

“Aye, we laughed too until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out: ‘Then see how well you do without me!’ Then the rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground. I…” Stoick gulped looking up to the heavens as he was forced to relive the memory all the way through. “I... was the only one to escape.” Dropping his head back down, dull green eyes met those of vivid green. “Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.”

Hiccup turned his head away, unable to look his father in the eye. Instead, he glanced at Jackson who had his arms wrapped around himself protectively. Unshed tears filled amber eyes and the auburn-haired Viking knew the Druid was reliving one of his own memories. Most likely one of his memories containing the king of his homeland who hunted down and killed anything even remotely magical—humans and dragons included—or a memory about his abusive father. Both of whom would kill—and _had_ killed in regards to his king while Jackson’s father only _attempted_ murder—without reason.

“Maybe,” Hiccup said softly turning back to his father momentarily before heading for Toothless.

“Hiccup—” Stoick warned only to be interrupted.

“I’m still going to try,” the Night Fury rider spoke over the chief as he mounted Toothless and locked eyes with his father, a resolve gleaming in his vivid green eyes. “This is what I’m good at and… and if I could change your mind... I can change his too.” With one more glance at his father, Hiccup leaned down and patted the Night Fury on the side. “Come on.”

“Hey!” Jackson shouted, pulled from his memories when Toothless took to the skies, leaving him behind. The others were left stirring in awkward silence. Heather and Astrid shared a look before both ran to their Sharp-class dragons, mounting them with every intention of going after their leader.

“Let’s go,” the Deadly Nadder rider grinned.

Before either shieldmaiden could make it off the deck, the chief’s cry kept the dragons grounded. “ _NO!_ Lead the others back to Berk. I’ve had enough mutiny for one day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't reread this series lately, I would suggest doing so, since I edited the whole thing before posting this chapter. There are probably still a lot of mistakes, but I did clean it up using Grammarly. 
> 
> Also, I've broken down and got a Ko-fi account, please stop by: https://ko-fi.com/silverlysilence


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who stuck with me during my impromptu hiatus and for the well wishes, it does make a difference. As for the chapter, I feel like I did more with Jack in the lost version but I couldn't remember what that was but I do feel comfortable in posting this version. 
> 
> To Dola625: I really appreciate the offer of a donation, but it is not necessary. However, I won't say no to a Ko-Fi (well, tea or hot cocoa in my case, since I'm not big on coffee). Look me up at https://ko-fi.com/silverlysilence. I'll appreciate every drop.
> 
> CatherineADurr, thank you so much for the reassurance and your comment as a whole. It made me feel a lot better, so thank you again.
> 
> KyuubiChan…to answer your question about seeing the trailer for the 3rd movie, I invite you and everyone else to take a look at my Hallowe'en post at https://ko-fi.com/silverlysilence 
> 
> kiba_chan, you'll have to read and see if Jack's going to have a dragon. I don't do spoilers (at least, I try not to). 
> 
> Enjoy.

The glow of the low arctic sun combined with the vast expanse of endless clouds made a sight to behold. One which Hiccup completely ignored. While his gaze might have been directed in the general direction of nature’s beauty, he wasn’t seeing a thing. His face twisted in pure frustration as his mind came up with numerous scenarios involving these new Dragon Trappers, his father, and the unknown Drago. Too caught up in his own world, he didn’t have any destination in mind and Toothless took it upon himself to slowly their glide over the bed of clouds.

Unexpectedly, the Viking erupted in an explosion of emotions, screaming his frustrations to the winds. The outburst was punctuated with a useless punch to the air above him before Hiccup slumped back onto the saddle listlessly. Toothless recoiled at the sudden explosion and let out a curious warble in hopes of comforting Hiccup.

“Don’t worry, Bud,” the Dragon Rider breathed out watching as his condensed breath of air mingled with the blue skies above him. His voice subdued and low, nothing like it had been a moment previous. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise.”

The Night Fury’s ear-plates perked up before laying flat against his head. Acid green eyes darting down, scanning the clouds underneath him to catch sight of a slight disturbance in the blanket of clouds. Toothless let out a growl of warning yet his rider didn’t pay him any heed. It was only when the dragon’s growls became deeper, rumbling through his whole body, did Hiccup take notice. The growl was less of a warning, more threatening in nature, which had the auburn-hair man groaning and pulling himself upright in the saddle.

“Ah, come on, Dad. Really?” the chief’s son grunted only for his exasperation to morph, a gasp escaping his lips. That definitely wasn’t Skullcrusher breaking through the layer of clouds. Nor was it his father.

Vivid green eyes widened as a stranger wearing armor form from leather, fur, and various crude metal pieces covered every inch of skin seemingly rose above the clouds. The menacing warrior stood upon something unseen while a tattered red cape billowed in the wind. Six different horns came out of the tusked warrior-mask the stranger wore which was further adorned by teal warpaint along with the right half of the armor and a leather shield held at the ready. A talon covered hand held firm to a wooden staff decorated with various colored leathers winding around its length and what could have only been a dragon boned carved into a hook was secured to the top of the weapon.

Whoever this warrior was, Hiccup could tell they were gauging him and Toothless. Pulling up alongside, the stranger’s head tilted to the side in what might have been curiosity but was borderline intimidating before the warrior dipped back beneath the clouds, disappearing. Hiccup was spurred from his motionless shocked staring state to alarmed and ready instantaneously. His relaxed frame tensed as his hands tightened on the leather of the saddle, green eyes darting across the clouds searching for any disturbances.

“Okay. No sudden moves,” the Dragon Rider whispered to Toothless. The passing relief he felt at having left Jackson on the Dragon Trapper’s longboat was only a slight respite as he went absolutely rigid. “By Odin, we left Jackson behind. He’s going to _murder_ me.”

All thoughts of the brunet’s retribution suddenly fled from his mind as the unknown warrior exploded out of the clouds right before them. The mystery of how the stranger drifted across the clouds was answered as a large dragon—nearly twice the size of the Night Fury—burst forth. The new dragon—one he’d never encountered—circled around Toothless and rider alike, forcing the black dragon to tread air. Hiccup didn’t notice. He only had eyes for the large dragon.

The reddish-orange dragon had a sturdy build with only two legs. His face wasn’t elongated like most dragons but had a smashed in look about it with two long spines branching out from the dragon’s nose. A multitude of spines went down the dragon’s back and a few around his head gave him the appearance of wearing a large crown. The three tailfins were unique but nothing compared to the second pair of wings splayed out from underneath the first pair, giving the dragon an X-winged appearance. Hiccup took all of this in, cataloging the information in his mind to research later while searching his memories for any similar species of dragons to use as a baseline to deduct the dragon’s weakness if the need to fight arose.

The warrior pointed the staff at Hiccup as the unknown pair flew around them. In all honesty, the action was unnerving and Hiccup struggled to keep the stranger in sight without making any sudden movement that might be perceived as threatening. It was hard, especially when the reddish-orange dragon flew behind him only to come around the other side and returned to their previous position before the Night Fury duo. When the larger dragon began moving closer, Toothless began to thrash and his flying became erratic.

“Hold on, hold on,” Hiccup struggled to soothe the dragon. The little progress he made in calming Toothless was quickly undone when the larger dragon let out a massive roar.

The Night Fury growled back warningly. His wings beating a rapid tattoo as he stood his ground. Toothless was not about to back down.

Unfortunately, neither was the larger dragon and between the two of them, they generated enough force to disturb the cloud layer below, creating a haze. Because of this haze and the general lack of visibility, Hiccup wasn’t prepared. He never saw a second dragon coming from behind. The ambush was unexpected, more so because the second dragon didn’t attack. It grabbed the Dragon Rider and wrenched him from Toothless’s back.

“Toothless!” Hiccup shouted, fearing not for himself but for his dragon who couldn’t fly, not without a rider. He thrashed in the dragon’s grasp, dangling uselessly as his worst nightmares came true.

Toothless couldn’t stay in the air despite wings frantically flapping, desperate not to plummet into the ice-covered ocean below. Not even the ice could catch the dragon as the Night Fury crashed through the thick sheet and into the black frigid waters. Hiccup’s heart stopped a second only to pick back up when Toothless resurfaced, floundering uselessly in the waters. His desperate cries for help would forever be burned into the auburn-haired Viking’s mind as he was carried off in the talons of the second dragon.

Vivid green eyes only darted away from the distressed black dragon’s form when the distinctive smell of a Hideous Zippleback’s gas reached his nose. Hiccup wished he hadn’t. Not when he found over a dozen dragons gathered around the stranger, forming a cavalcade with the warrior as their leader. As the distressed calls of a Night Fury bellowed out into the clouds, barely reaching his rider as he was taken away, Hiccup thought maybe his father had been right. There was no reasoning with men who killed without reason.

Never would the young man bear witness to the Night Fury’s attempts to claw his way on to the ice, pulling himself part way up only to crash back into the icy waters time and time again. Neither would he see exhaustion take over as the dragon slowly sunk into the frigid ocean nor the spiny dorsal fins of Seashockers split the ice, carving a path towards Toothless as he sank.

In the end, all that marked the Night Fury and his rider’s struggles was Hiccup’s helmet bobbing up and down in the ocean’s water surrounded by ice.

* * *

 

Hiccup shivered in the claws of the dragon when Toothless’s panicked roars no longer reached him. Being surrounded by the flock full of unknown dragons and the silence of the warrior did not help at all either. He had dealt with new species of dragons and hostile tribes before. Overcoming unimaginable obstacles with the other Dragon Riders, their dragons, and his Druid by his side. The shivers of fear slowly creeping into his heart told him this wasn’t going to be like any of those other occasions. Whoever this dragon riding warrior was, they definitely weren’t one of Krogan’s Dragon Flyers and was by far more dangerous than anything he had faced before.

“Hey!” Hiccup attempted to reason with the stranger. “You left my dragon back there. He can’t fly on his own.”

The warrior leading the cavalcade didn’t respond. The figure just stood on top of the reddish-orange dragon unmoving as they flew further north. Underneath him, the landscape gave way to something alien, harsh and foreboding. Crystals of ice covered everything and up ahead, peeking through the fog loomed an even greater ice formation than that which had destroyed Eret’s fort. The formation was bigger than a mountain and the jagged spikes of ice sent chills through Hiccup that had nothing to do with the polar night descending upon them. Hiccup was protected from the cold by the enchantments placed on his flight suit yet the warrior didn’t even twitch as the temperature decreased, seemingly immune to the cold.

Vivid green eyes immediately began making notes of the path he was being taken through in hopes of using the information to escape later on. They had entered the ice formation through an almost hidden opening near the base before flying upwards around jagged folds. The wild ride gave way to a multilevel, cavernous chamber made of ice and columns of basalt rock. What was worse, the chamber was heavily populated with numerous additional dragons unseen due to the lack of light. He could, however, hear them looming in the shadows.

The talons around his arms suddenly weren’t there and Hiccup found his foot colliding with the ground he hardly saw. His momentum had him tumbling forward, yet thanks to Jackson’s teachings he used the motion to roll forward and push up with his hands, springing up to land on his feet. The heavy breathing around him clued him in that he had been dropped in the center of the dragons.

“Hey, we have to head back for my dragon!” Hiccup called out to the abyss of darkness, whirling around in circles as he fought to see anything.

The heavy stomps that not only reached his ears but also were felt through the vibrations of the ground had the Viking backing up as a snarling dragon slowly took shape in front of him. He toyed with the idea of pulling out the folded sunshine tucked safely away for light but thought better of it. The sunlight more likely than not would startle the aggressive dragon twice his size before him into attacking and every single one of the other dragons surrounding them would follow the dragon’s lead.  

Instead, Hiccup grabbed Inferno from his side, extending and lighting the telescoping blade in one fluid movement. Bringing the flaming sword high above his head, the Dragon Rider began to wave it in a swirl of fire around his body. The dragon paused, his aggression turning to intrigue, watching the flames hypnotically as Hiccup pacified him with calculated sweeps of the fiery blade.

Behind the Viking, the warrior watched keenly from the shadows ready to strike. It soon became apparent Hiccup wasn’t about to attack as he swung the blade around him, displaying the fire. When several aggressive dragons closed in behind the young man, hissing and not the least bit impressed, Hiccup collapsed the blade back into the hilt. Reaching down with his free hand, the inventor retrieved one of the extra cartridges strapped to his right ankle and expertly ejected the spent cartridge—letting it tumble to the ground—to click the full unit in place.

Flipping the hilt around, he directed the closed dragon head at the ground and sprayed a perimeter of Zippleback gas around himself. A click of the lighter ignited the gas, creating a flash ring which exploded outwards from his huddled form. The testy dragons recoiled and Hiccup gave them a second to recover before standing up and reaching out through the smoke, offering his open hand. One of the dragons—after a moment’s hesitation—re-approach the Dragon Rider, sniffing his offered hand with calmed curiosity and a tidbit of caution.

Before he could rest his hand on the dragon’s horned nose to show them he meant no harm, a scuffling of boots across the ground pulled his attention towards the hard to see the warrior. Seeing the figure crouch down, holding the staff in a fashion similar to Jackson when he wasn’t sure if he should attack or defend, Hiccup took a step back. Clipping Inferno back in place, he held up his hands to show he was unarmed and not a threat.

“Who are you? The Dragon Thief? Uh… Drago Bludvist?” the warrior continued to circle him, studying him as if he were a new species of dragon to be examined and categorized. “Do you even understand what I’m saying?”

The last comment produced a reaction from the warrior as the staff was whirling around high up in the air before being hammered down onto the ground. A soft humming sound came from the staff as air passed through the holes in the dragon bone—that went unnoticed from a distance but were clearly visible up close—followed by a rattling noise as the bone connected with the ground. In response, a large dragon ascended from the outer most circle, carrying with her a very familiar, albeit dripping wet, dragon.

“Toothless!” Hiccup gasped rushing over to where the Night Fury was dumped without any ceremony. Vivid green eyes ran over the dragon searching for any injuries as his hands glided down slick scales in an attempt to find what his eyes could not in the shadows. A sigh of relief left his lips when Toothless crooned out softly, reassuring his rider he was unharmed. “Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m glad to see you, too, Bud. You really had me worried there.”

Slowly, the Night Fury got to his feet and shook off the excess water and for once, the Dragon Rider didn’t reprimand him. Toothless proceeded to give Hiccup a lick on the face to show the Viking he was alright and grumbled lowly. A grumble which soon turned into a growl when the warrior rattled the staff once more at a nearby dragon and he moved to put himself between Hiccup and the threat.

In response to the rattling, the surrounding dragons produced firelight from their throats. Putting the Night Fury and his rider in the spotlight. While uncomfortable, it also allowed Hiccup to see more than five feet away. The warrior moved forward, crouching low to place both the staff and shield on the ground. Only then did the figure approach them, slow and cautiously. Almost animal-like in the way the figure stuck close to the ground and moved on hands as well as feet at certain points.

Toothless snarled, encircling the Viking with a wing defensively. Then, before vivid green eyes, the aggressive Night Fury instantly yielded to the stranger’s outstretched hand and with a quick, disarming gesture, Toothless was rolling over onto his back in a state of bliss. Hiccup felt his pulse quicken as the wing around him disappeared and a chill went up his spine despite the dragons’ flames surrounding him. Without Toothless’s protection, the warrior’s hand continued toward the Night Fury rider’s face.

Hiccup couldn’t help but take a few shuffling steps backwards, recoiling away from the persistent stranger. His breathing sped up, coming in short shallow bursts and he was forced to jerk his head back and out of reach when the warrior’s hand came too close to his face for comfort. The sudden gasp from the stranger was unexpected for the sole reason it was the first sound the warrior had made. Whatever had caused the reaction also had the figure pulling back and retreating away from him as if he’d attacked.

What had his breath catching in his throat was the soft shaken whisper which echoed around the chamber and shattered the whole world of the heir to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. “Hiccup?”

“Uh, uh…” was all the young man could get out of his tightening throat as the warrior’s hands came up to remove the mask. Underneath was a slender face of a woman lined with a few wrinkles wrought over time. Light green eyes stared out unblinking as aged auburn hair bound together flowed from the confines of the mask. Thin lips gapped as if the warrior couldn’t believe what was right in front of her.

“C—could it be?” the woman stammered out and Hiccup wasn’t sure if she was actually talking to him or to herself. “After all these years? How is this possible?”

“Uh, should I... should I know you?” the Viking questioned, now really looking at the warrior before him yet he still couldn’t place the woman from any of his memories. Still, there was just something about her which tugged at his mind.

The woman stood up straight at the question yet her shoulders slumped before she looked away, shaking her head slightly. “No. You were only a babe... but a mother never forgets.”

Hiccup felt all the air in his lungs rush out yet his tongue refused to cooperate. It just couldn’t be. She couldn’t be who she was implying. His mother was dead. Killed by the dragons serving under the Red Death, his father had told him the story every year on the eve of her death. He knew the tale by heart.

“Shh, shh,” the warrior tried to calm him down, making Hiccup realize short huffs of breath were coming from him as he fought desperately to breathe. Gulping down a few gasps of air, vivid green eyes observed the woman claiming to be _his mother_ who wore a radiant smile on her face. She took a few steps back and motioned with her hands even as she began to run off. “Come...

With that she was gone through the parted pathway the dragons had created. Hiccup was quick to follow her and Toothless was even quicker to follow him. No matter how fast either of them were, they were no match for the woman proclaiming herself to be his mother. Hiccup tried to keep up with the woman but it was impossible with her familiarity with the uneven terrain and his prosthetic foot. He thought he had lost her when she left the chamber but a flutter of red caught his attention as it disappeared into a tunnel. Worse over, the cavern had been smooth walking compared to the tunnel. There were no straight paths and even less level ground. Still, Hiccup was determined and managed to catch up with the woman only slightly winded but extremely flustered.

“Uh, h—hold on. Wait just a minute,” the Viking shouted after the warrior, eyes trained on the woman as she bounded off the rock piles and vaulted over boulders in a way reminiscent of Jackson. Although, having watched the brunet for so long, he could catch a few slipups from the auburn-haired warrior he wouldn’t have caught otherwise. The woman was graceful but she had nothing on his Druid.

The warrior didn’t even stop as she rounded another corner and he lost sight of her once more. “This way.”

“Come back here.” That had the woman stopping for all of a second, gesturing for him to hurry up.

“Come.”

“You can’t just say something like that and run off,” Hiccup threw his hands up in agitation, hissing in pain when his hand collided with a low hanging stalactite. Ducking own underneath the stalactite, he had to then climb up a partial collapse in the tunnel. “You’re my mother?! I mean, what the…? Do you… do you grasp how _insane_ it sounds?!”

What he said seemed to go in one of the warrior’s ears and out the other without hearing a single word he had to say. “Come quickly!

“I have questions!” the Dragon Rider shouted up the tall rock the warrior had easily scaled with her staff. He jumped, straining to reach the top of the rock but came a few inches short. Grunting, Hiccup skidded back down the boulder. “Where have you—,” he jumped a second time and with a little boost from Toothless, he managed to grab the edge to hoist himself up, “—been all this time?”

Tumbling over the other side, Hiccup landed on his ass with a groan of pain. That had hurt more than he expected. A nudge from behind had vivid green eyes glancing back into acid green eyes. Another nudge had him pushing himself up onto his feet and giving Toothless the room he needed to climb through the limited opening.

“What’ve—what have you been doing? But they—they said you were dead! Everyone thinks you were eaten by...” the Dragon Rider trailed off, his mind in a complete disarray, struggling to understand, to comprehend the entirety of the situation.

Following the wisp of red material through a small opening into a light-filled chamber, Hiccup stopped rationalizing and simply took in what was around him.

The sounds of bellowing dragons and screeches filled the enormous cavity which Hiccup assumed took up the entirety of the mountain. It was as if the whole mountain was hollow. There were rock and ice columns alike holding up the ceiling made of the same mix substance overhead. A dome of sweating ice capped a geothermal microclimate. Everywhere he looked was teeming with life and vegetation.

Yet what had vivid green eyes transfixed were the hundreds of thousands of dragons. They were everywhere. Flying around the columns, drinking from waterfalls and bathing in hot springs. Ever so slowly, Hiccup wandered into the cavern basking in the amazing sight of every shape and kind of dragon he had ever come in contact with and some he hadn’t. A sound from above him and Toothless had their head tilting upward, spotting the reddish-orange dragon clinging to a basalt overhang with the warrior watching him.

“This is where you’ve been for twenty years?” the chief’s son asked, his voice no longer loud but low as realization dawned on him. The woman—who he was starting to believe could very well be his mother—nodded from her perch, a smile spreading across her face. “You’ve been rescuing them.” Another nod from her had Hiccup looking around him once more. “Unbelievable.”

There was a slight hesitation to her voice as she spoke again. “You’re not upset?”

“What? No. I—I don’t know. I…It’s a bit much to get my head around, to be frank. It’s not every day you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady,” Hiccup confessed, allowing his head to drop onto his chest. He really wished he had someone else here with him. Preferably his father.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he would rather have Jackson here. He didn’t know what would happen if his father found his mother alive and well after all this time. The brunet, however, would be better at helping him wrap his head around this whole situation and make sense of things. Or, at the very least, he would be great for emotional support.

“Oh,” his mother— _Valka,_ his mind supplied the name his father still cried out to in his sleep—chuckled, securing the bottom of her staff onto the talon of her dragon’s wing while placing a foot in the dragon bone hook. The dragon then lowered his wing to some extent for Valka to grabbed hold of the second set of wings with a talon tip to slide the rest of the way down to the ground. “Well… At least I’m not boring... right?”

Hiccup stood there, letting what could have been a Boulder-class or maybe a Sharp-class dragon sniff him and when the blue dragon deemed him safe, the Viking began to pet him. “I suppose there is that... one... specific... thing...”

“Do—do you like it?” Valka asked creeping closer to her son slowly as if he were a dragon that would startle and fly away at any moment.

“I… I… I—I don’t have the words,” the Dragon Rider truthfully answered, having no way to convey the millions of thoughts running through his mind. There were things he wanted to say, questions he wanted answered, and thoughts needing to be voiced. None of which were said.

Instead, Hiccup was distracted by the sight of Toothless being surrounded by a bunch of excited dragons which rushed over to greet the Night Fury. The usual confident dragon was hunched in on himself with the larger dragons towering over him and when one of them prodded the Night Fury’s hindquarters, his whole body went rigid, ear-plates perking up and Hiccup moved to react before Toothless did. He was too late. The black dragon whirled around, snarling viciously and scaring the other dragons. Valka laughed as the frightened dragons scurried away. Toothless snorted and stalked back to his rider to keep from being violated even more.

“C—can I...?” the warrior asked looking to her son for permission. A glance at the Night Fury had Hiccup shrugging his shoulders which Valka took as consent and moved closer to Toothless. Setting her staff down and holding out a hand, Valka waited for him to sniff it before touching the dragon. “Oh, he’s beautiful! Oh.”

Valka slowly ghosted fingers over his head before kneeling down so she was on the dragon’s level. Toothless let out a purr when she began petting him and rubbed his face against Valka’s, in absolute bliss at the dragon lady’s touch.

“Oh, incredible,” Valka laughed as she was nearly pushed over at the Night Fury’s nuzzle. A smile spread across the young man’s face as Toothless circled around his mother while trying to roll over at the same time. “He might very well be the last of his kind. Oh…” She exclaimed inspecting the dragon’s talons, “and look, he’s your age!”

“Wow,” Hiccup breathed out in awe, more astounded by Toothless’ affections for Valka than what she had to say. The dragon usually only acted this way with either him or Jackson and on the rare occasion, the rest of the Dragon Riders. Never with someone he’d just met.

“No wonder you get along so well. Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?” the woman said, her attention completely focused on the Night Fury. Nodding her head, Toothless mimicked the motion and in doing so, showed off his teeth. A gasped escaped Valka when the teeth receded into the gums when she had reached out to touch one of those pearly whites. “And retractable teeth?”

Turning towards Hiccup, Valka asked him a question he wasn’t prepared for and had the Dragon Rider shifting awkwardly on his feet. “Ah! How did you manage to…?”

“I found him in the woods,” Hiccup admitted, absentmindedly tugging on one of the braids in his hair. He would forever regret crippling Toothless, but Hiccup would never regret having done so because then they would have never met. “He was shot down and wounded.”

The Viking winced when he saw Valka still and slowly stand up. Without meaning too, the young man found his arms folding behind his back and ducking his head. Something he hadn’t done since he was a child when he knew he’d done something wrong and was being confronted about it.

“This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist’s iron traps,” the warrior walked over and caress the wing of an orange spotted teal dragon causing it to lift up the wing and reveal a stub for a leg. Moving towards a taller dragon, she picked up her staff along the way and lifted up the tattered wing of the greenish-grey dragon. “This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting. And this, oh, poor Hobblegrunt—” she turned to a purple dragon low to the ground with cloudy eyes, “—was blinded by a tree snare... then left to die alone and scared.

“And what of this?” his mother asked, moving to stand over Toothless’s tail, picking up the red prosthetic with the top of her staff. “Did Drago or his trappers do this, too?”

Turning his face away from Valka, Hiccup let out a humorous laugh. “Yeah. Well, crazy thing is... I’m actually the one who shot him down.”

Toothless grunted, stamping his foot and nosing his rider to show the woman he’d long since forgiven Hiccup. The young man smiled and reached out, petting the Night Fury. His attention completely focused on Toothless, missing the glare forming in light green eyes which held a hint of confusion in their depths.

“It’s okay though. He got me back. Right, Bud?” the Dragon Rider teased Toothless, rubbing the dragon’s head affectionately. Toothless let out a warble and shook his head, ear-plates perking up happily. “You couldn’t save all of me, could you? You just had to make it even. So... peg leg!”

Hiccup raised his left leg, rattling the prosthetic with a smirk. He soon toppled over—already having been unstable on his one leg—when Toothless pushed his head between the Viking’s legs and tossed him up into his saddle. All the while, Valka observed their playful rapport with a critical eye.

“Uh…what did your father think of your Night Fury friend?”

“Oh, he—he didn’t take it all that well,” the chief’s son paused before elaborating, not wanting to lie but not wanting to divulge Stoick the Vast had almost killed Toothless. It wasn’t a memory any of the Haddock men liked to dwell on. “But then... he changed. They all did. Pretty soon everyone back home had dragons of their own.”

“If only it were possible,” Valka smiled wistfully at Toothless, dismissing his comment which had Hiccup brisling.

“No, really. I—”

“Believe me, I tried, as well,” the woman cut him off, not even giving him the chance to explain. “But people are not capable of change, Hiccup. Some of us... were just born different.”

Unlike his mother, Hiccup didn’t interject to rebuff her claim that people couldn’t change. He’d seen so many people change over the years, Alvin the Treacherous, Heather, even Dagur the Deranged just to name a few and that was on top of the whole population of Berk. Still, he held his tongue in order to hear Valka out as his father had taught him to. Maybe after listening to her, he could convince Valka otherwise by using her outdated memories and rendering them obsolete with the truth about Berk’s current state of affairs.

“Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but I believed peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion,” which Hiccup readily agreed with, right up until about five summers ago. “One night, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle. I rushed to protect you, but what I saw... was proof of everything I believed. By rushing into our house, I scared Cloudjumper into creating that scar there on your chin but when faced with him, I came to the realization that this wasn’t a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature, whose soul reflected my own.

“Stoick chose that moment to dash in with his axe swinging, startling Cloudjumper into setting our hut ablaze. I tried to stop him, but it was too late, the fires were already spreading towards your crib and Stoick choice to save you. You and your father nearly died that night, all because I couldn’t kill a dragon.”

Glancing down and to the left, Hiccup couldn’t keep the grin from forming on his face. “Eh, runs in the family.”

“It broke my heart to stay away, but I believed you’d be safer if I did.” The young man considered her story and raised his eyes to hers, seeing the sting of remorse.

“How did you survive?”

“Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. He must’ve thought I belonged here in the home of the great Bewilderbeast,” Valka explained as she led him to the edge of a natural raise terrace, overlooking the steamy oasis with its hot springs and the flowing waterfall. Half-submerged in the warm lake below was a massive—even more so than the Red Death—snowy white dragon resting benevolently in the waters, surrounded by a pride of dragons.

The Bewilderbeast, as Valka called him, was covered in spikes all of which were tipped red with two mammoth tusks and multiple huge wings. The front side of the dragon’s body was covered in burr-like spikes, along with two lines of spikes along the dragon’s eyelids to protect his icy blue eyes. Frill which took on the appearance of a crown could be seen on the occipital region. A familiar frill which he’d seen only once before on a dragon’s skull on the shores of Vanaheim.

“The alpha species. One of very few that still exist. Every nest has its queen, but this is king of all dragons,” which would explain why many of the dragons would stop to bow at the massive white dragon before flying off on their way. “With his icy breath, this graceful giant built our nest. A safe haven for dragons everywhere.”

Valka finished by gesturing to the spiked ice ceiling which drew vivid green eyes up to the ice and had them widening in realization. “Wait, that’s the ice-spitter? He’s responsible for all that destruction?”

All at once, things clicked into place. What had happened to Eret’s fort, who had been the dragon thief, and how Valka had been able to locate him so quickly after he had left the trapper’s longboat. It had all been because of his mother. The Bewilderbeast destroyed the fort while Valka rescued the trapped dragons. She must have been keeping an eye on Eret’s boat to free any more dragon he might catch and found Hiccup instead.

“He protects us. We all live under his care. And his command,” Valka hummed, nodding her head as she led him down a path towards the hot spring below.

As they went, Hiccup found them going straight through a clearing littered with eggshells barely hidden in the ferns. A few hatchlings darted out from the foliage and excitedly flew around them in greeting. Their exhilaration soon inciting utter chaos as a group of hatchlings bombarded Toothless, piling on the Night Fury. Toothless did nothing to defend himself, having been subjected to countless encounters of youngling courtesy of Jackson. However, Cloudjumper must have thought the Night Fury was being overwhelmed by the squawking hatchlings and let out a roar like shriek. The hatchlings scattered and Cloudjumper gave Toothless a superior look, earning a deadpanned expression from the black dragon.

“All but the babies, of course,” Valka chuckled as the scattered hatchlings clambered on top of the Bewilderbeast for protection. They soon lost interest in in the snowy white dragon’s massive tusks and began to play on top of the massive dragon, despite his authoritative stature. “Who listen to no one.”

Hiccup wanted to disagree with his mother, knowing for a fact there was one person able to corral all the hatchlings on Berk: human and dragon alike. Jackson just had a way with children. Though, the first meeting between hatchlings and the brunet were always the most entertaining since they tended to cling to the Druid until either he or their parents pulled them away. Before he could voice his disagreement, he dissolved into a small fit of laughter as the Bewilderbeast lets out a frosty snort. The hatchlings were sent scampering. Not because of the massive snow colored dragon’s command, but because the Bewilderbeast was awake and their game came to an end.

Now fully conscious, the Alpha raised his gargantuan head to take a closer look at the newcomers to his domain. Icy blue eyes leveled with Hiccup, scrutinizing him. To his side, Valka bowed along with Cloudjumber. What surprised the Dragon Rider though, was Toothless also gave a slight bow of his own as well. The Night Fury hadn’t bowed to the Red Death and her tyrant ways, but he was now freely bowing to the gentle giant before him and if Toothless thought it was prudent to bow, Hiccup did so too.

“I’ve lived among them for twenty years, Hiccup, learning their ways, discovering their secrets,” the dragon warrior explained as her son looked up at the Bewilderbeast with unbridled wonder and joy. The snowy dragon must have found something in the young Viking he liked because he let out a blast of icy breath on to the young man, slicking his hair back within a frosty veneer. “He likes you.”

Brushing the frost from his hair, Hiccup couldn’t keep his amazement at bay any longer. “Wow.”

Valka chuckled, delighted in his awe. “You must be hungry.”

“Uh, yeah. I could eat,” the Dragon Rider agreed to the seemingly non sequitur comment.

“Good. It’s feeding time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of respect to SilverlySilence who is very excited for the upcoming HTTYD3 movie, please do not post any spoiler to the movie in the comments. Unless it is the name of the Light Fury, then I won't mind because I refuse to believe her name is Toothpaste like my friend is insisting upon.
> 
> Also, if any of you did reread the Soul of a Druid after it was edited, please let me know what you think of the differences.
> 
> Thanks for reading and see you in two weeks.


	8. Dragon Sanctuary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few of you have asked what edits I made to Soul of a Druid and mostly, they were grammar and spelling fixes with a few rewrite. I just wanted to know if the story read better without as many mistakes.
> 
> There are also some of you who are hypnotizing what will happen next and I say feel free to speculate but I'm not telling. I don't like spoilers and I'm not gonna give them out. :)
> 
> Thanks again for all of your reviews. Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and I'll be seeing you in two weeks.

Toothless warbled contently as the wind caressed his body and purred in satisfaction. Hiccup chuckled at the dragon’s antics and nudged the Night Fury in the side. Ear-plates perked up and turned his head back to look at his rider inquisitiveness. The Viking laughed, pointing towards Valka and Cloudjumper who had flown on ahead over a majestic fjord, the long rays of the low arctic sun shining around the larger dragon. Acid green eyes narrowed and shot forward, catching up to the reddish-orange dragon.

Hiccup peered over his shoulder to see the thick flock of dragons were still close on their tail before looking over at his mother. “Hey, I—I thought we were going to eat?”

Valka shifted her weight, putting more pressure on her right foot which had Cloudjumper banking right and coming around to face the Night Fury. Watching his mother fly was a wonder. She had no saddle and it didn’t appear as if she would need one seeing how she stood on the reddish-orange dragon’s back. The dragon warrior moved in conjunction with Cloudjumper when he shifted his weight she moved to accommodate the dragon and when Valka change course, he moved with her. It was almost like they were one being in two separate bodies.

“Oh, we are,” Valka grinned mischievously, holding up her hand to keep Toothless from flying any further. The Night Fury obliged her and hovered in the air, looking around to figure out why they had stopped in a seemingly random area. Other than ice and open water, there was nothing there yet when the dragon warrior directed her gaze downwards, Toothless and his rider copied the action.

The water was a bit choppy directly below them due to a group of Seashockers swimming in a dense circle. Inside the ring, a shoal of fish swam near the surface, corralled by the deep-sea dragons. A school broke away from the shoal in a bid for freedom, but two Scauldrons—the natural predators of Seashockers—worked with the other Tidal-class dragons to heard them back into the shoal and prevent them from escaping. Hiccup watched in sheer amazement as the two species of dragons worked so closely together without reverting to their baser instincts.

The Dragon Rider then began to ponder just how the non-Tital-class dragons were supposed to get a part of the catch without causing mass chaos and scaring the fish away. He didn’t need to wonder long when suddenly, the Bewilderbeast rose from deep below, scooping the fish up in its vast mouth as his tusks broke the surface. The massive snowy dragon breached the water right below Toothless and Cloudjumper, giving the former dragon and his rider a fright, before spraying the fish up into the air. He crashed back into the sea and it became apparent to the auburn-haired man the dragon’s multiple wings were not capable of lift his massive weight, making the Bewilderbeast incapable of flight.

Valka laughed at her son’s surprise as the hungry dragons raced for the flailing fish, scooping them out of the air. The same fish which had Toothless’s head whipping every which way looking longingly at the food. Hiccup’s shock wore off quickly and he gestured for the Night Fury to join in. He didn’t need any further consent, Toothless shot down, chasing after a particular cod the Viking knew was his favorite while dodging around the various other dragons after their own supper. His paws skimmed the surface of the sea as he pulled up at the absolute last second to keep from plunging into the icy waters and turned his head back to give his ride a glimpse of the mouthful of fish he’d caught.

Laughing, Hiccup shook his head and made a gesture towards one of the fjord’s valley walls in a silent question directed at the Night Fury. Toothless cooed happily—well, as much as a dragon could coo with a mouthful of fish—and bobbed his head up and down in agreement. After all, eating and flying wasn’t always the best of choices and only reserved for emergency situations. Settling down on the snow-covered surface, the dragon dropped his fish into a pile and allowed his rider to dismount before he hunkered down over his catch to chow down. The young man smiled as he watched the sole black dragon happily savoring his meal while other dragons landed around them. Each of them creating their own piles of fish and either devoured the food or ate them one at a time depending on the dragon.

“Here,” Valka’s voice came from behind the auburn-haired Viking watching the Bewilderbeast spew another mouthful of fish into the air for the unlucky dragons who hadn’t been able to catch anything the first time around. Turning away from the sight he knew Fishlegs would be geeking out over if he were here as well, Hiccup found his mother offering him a chard stick speared with a few smaller fish, thoroughly cooked by dragon fire.

“Thanks,” Hiccup gave a weak smile and took the stick, eyeing the blackened haddock hesitantly. The older woman didn’t notice his uncertainty and went about spearing another set of fish taken from Cloudjumper’s pile and had the dragon cook it through with a small vortex of flames. “I’ve been wondering; what species of dragon is Cloudjumper?”

“He’s a Stormcutter, one of the few I’ve ever encountered,” his mother smiled, rubbing the dragon’s head. Cloudjumper didn’t quite purr, but he did let out a pleased rumble and nipped one of the cooked fish off the end of Valka’s stick. The woman laughed and gave the dragon one last pet before taking a seat in the snow and patted the snow to her side as a clear invitation for him to join her.

“I’ve never seen one. Actually, I haven’t seen many of the dragon species here before,” the Viking gestured to the dragons as he sat across from his mother. Unlike the woman picking at the skin of her fish to remove the scales, Hiccup pulled his dagger out from its holster and quickly skinned and gutted the fish. Not having a rowan bowl handy like a certain Druid, he threw what he wouldn’t eat over into Toothless’s pile who crooned out his appreciation.

Valka hummed and looked over at some of the feasting dragons. “A lot of them are from isles far from Berk. It would take months, even years to reach them by boat.”

“For boats, yeah, but Toothless here has taken me to some amazing places,” Hiccup said taking a bite from his deboned fish and almost spit it back out. It was bland and tasteless, nothing like he’d gotten used to with Jackson’s cooking. Heck, Norbert even cooked better than the tough fish in his hands after a few lessons from the Druid—something all of the tribe was grateful for—though if he didn’t have those lessons, the young man still would have liked the adopted Thorston’s food better than the fish.

Light green eyes looked up in interest, the woman’s head cocking to the side very much like he had seen Cloudjumper do. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on a map of the archipelagos for some time now. Actually, I can show you,” Hiccup nodded, standing up and heading over to Toothless. Discretely, he fed his fish to the Night Fury while he pretended to retrieve the leather-bound map from the saddlebag when in reality he pulled it out from underneath his armor. Heading back over to the woman, the Viking set the map down and began unfolding it. “I started this map about two years ago as a side project to help find one of my friend’s adopted parents but it’s slowly taken on a life of its own.”

“You made this?” Valka asked, finishing her fish and leaning over the top of the map to look at the various coordinates. She had to stand up and walk around him just to look at it all.

“Mmm-hmm,” he nodded his head and pointed to a drawing of a Night Fury Jackson had done right over the top of where the Haddock hut was located on Berk. “I started with Berk at the center and worked my way out to the known islands. Then I started to add the islands Toothless has helped me discover, starting with Dragon Island and from Dragon Island, I found this archipelago...”

Hiccup trailed off in his explanation when he looked over his shoulder expecting to see his mother but she was no longer there. Glancing around, vivid green eyes landed on Valka as she finished sketching out the rest of the northern land masses in the snow. The young man felt his jaw drop with how much further she had explored and how much more still out there he’d yet to see. He briefly wondered if she had ever encountered a magic-hating king hell-bent on kill dragons and Druids alike, but thought better of asking.

“There,” the woman returned to her son’s side with a smile. He opened his mouth to voice some of his amazement but a bellow from Toothless stopped him. The two turned to find the Night Fury had acquired an icicle from somewhere and had joined in, drawing all over Valka’s map. The woman giggled at seeing the playful side of Toothless while Cloudjumper sneered when the black dragon scribbled around the Stormcutter. “Does he do this often?”

“Yeah,” the young man answered between his own chuckles. “Just don’t step on it, he gets offended.”

"Oh, do tell," and Hiccup found himself recounting the tale of how he'd befriend a Night Fury to his mother as he'd done countless times before to a gaggle of giggling children with Jackson by his side. How his inability to kill a dragon led him to face off against the Red Death. From there, tales just flowed, being traded back and forth about the different species of dragons they'd run into and little snippets of their lives in general.

They sat there talking for what felt like hours before the dragons became restless after they’d all gotten their fill. Valka, familiar with the needs of the dragon herd and catching sight of the signs they needed to stretch their wings, broke off her tale of a particularly mischievous Singetail that had the habit of melting the ice in the Dragon Sanctuary to head out on a short flight. The specific place she led the herd to was remarkable and it literally allowed the dragons to stretch their wings.

A strong coastal wind carried them skywards due to the vertical thrust created by the shoreline cliff caught in the dragons’ wings. Hiccup even allowed himself to be lifted out of his saddle by the force of the winds, laughing giddily. Jackson would have probably had the Viking’s poor heart stopping a few times if he were here. He would have definitely taken advantage of the winds upward drafts to try a few moves and jump off Toothless’s back as he was prone to do. Still, it was a sight to behold as one by one, dragons leapt from the cliff and catch the strong updraft, popping their wings open. Together, they rode the winds, orbiting around each other in a colorful, mesmeric dance.

Valka took the dance one step further by walking across Cloudjumper’s wing and onto several others. Dragon-hopping—as Berk’s Druid had aptly named it—from one to another, until she gracefully crossed Toothless from wing tip to wing tip. The dragon warrior then dropped out of sight and the Viking felt his heart jump before settling down as she reappeared a moment later standing atop the Stormcutter. It would appear his mother and his Druid had a few things in common already. Then again, he couldn’t say anything since he regularly jumped off of Toothless’s back as well.

Flying out of the circle, Valka breathed in the frigid air and lets it out blissfully as she kneeled down. “When I’m up here, I don’t even feel the cold. I just feel—”

“Free,” Hiccup finished lifting up his head and allowing the winds to caressed his hair. Sighing at the feeling, he turned his head to see the giant smile upon the auburn-haired woman’s face which had him returning the smile.

Laughing quietly, the dragon warrior sucked in a giant breath of air and gestured to the wide expanse around them. “This is what it is to be a dragon, Hiccup.”

A thoughtful look crossed the Dragon Rider’s face and maybe it was Jackson rubbing off on him a little bit, but he found himself reaching down to lock the pedals of the tailfin in the flared position. Deaf hands unbuckled the safety harness’s lines and the Viking immolated his mother by standing on Toothless’s back, a smirk of pure mischievousness on his face.

“It’s all well and good to call yourself a dragon. But can you fly?" Hiccup questioned, taking a running leap off Toothless and plunging through the air. The Night Fury watched his rider descend with only a hint of concern after their last disaster of a flight but quickly hid it to keep the Stormcutter from getting one over on him.

 

The Viking heard his mother’s frighten gasp but the sound was quickly eaten up by the winds. Hiccup’s hands went to the leather straps on either leg and threaded his wrists through. Yanking his stowed wings, they caught the air, snapping open and sending him gliding a few dozen feet below the dragons. Laughing, Hiccup flipped upside-down to face the sky. His laughter dissolving when he couldn’t find Cloudjumber and his mother.

The smile soon came back when she appeared on his other side, coming up from beneath him to study the flight-suit. Flipping back over again, the young man let out a whoop of joy at finally having grasped how to maneuver right up until he realized he was once again racing on a collision course with a fast approaching mountaintop. Hiccup was starting to think that mountains had it out for him.

“Oh no. Aha! Toothless!” the Dragon Rider shouted for assistance.

Toothless was having his own problem with the locked tailfin and once again, struggled to catch his foolhardy rider. Just like countless times before, the Night Fury pulled through, catching Hiccup and preventing serious injury by angling their trajectory to make it through an opening in the mountain. Toothless couldn’t, however, make the tight jackknife turn to keep them from crash-landing and instead braced for impact. An explosion of snow burst out from where they hit, the black dragon taking most of the impact and rolled before coming to a stop.

Toothless grunted as he shook the snow off of him only to freeze when he realized his rider wasn’t safely tucked away in his paws as he should have been. Frantically, the dragon began to look around only to sag in relief when Hiccup burst through the snow laughing not even a foot away.

“Man, almost!” the Viking jumped up excitedly and faced the dragon, completely missing the Night Fury’s glare. Toothless sneezed and shuddered, flicking the rest of the snow off of his body while growling at the young man. “We just about had it that time!”

The Night Fury stilled at the comment and slowly turned his head to face Hiccup. A swipe from his tail had the auburn-haired man falling back into the snow. This time it was Toothless chortling as Hiccup picked himself back up for the second time and dusted the snow off.

“Incredible,” Valka praised, jumping off of Cloudjumper’s back before he even landed and quickly circled around her son, utterly fascinated. She picked and pulled at the wings, examining them despite the Dragon Rider trying to roll them back up.

“Well, not bad yourself,” Hiccup mumbled, looking down in embarrassment.

Valka creased her examination of the flight suit. A forlorn expression crossed her face as she really looked at her son. Tentatively, the woman reached up, hesitating only for the barest of seconds before caressing Hiccup’s cheek. Light green eyes meeting those of a similar color, so like her own in more ways than one.

“All this time, you took after me. And where was I?” she asked more to herself than to the young man in front of her, her hand dropping limply to her side while she fought to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay. “I’m so sorry, Hiccup. Can we start over? Will you give me another chance?”

Hiccup smiled, no other words needed to be said because no other words were needed. All was already forgiven.

“I—I can teach you all I’ve learned, these past twenty years. Like,” the dragon warrior excitedly spoke, hurrying over to Toothless’s side. Reaching out, she rubbed a circular pattern on top of the Night Fury’s head. In response, his dorsal blades slowly cracked, splitting and extending, forming a pronounced, aerodynamic ‘V’ down the length of his back and tail. “Now you can make those tight turns.”

“Wow,” the Dragon Rider whispered out as Toothless shudders, attempting to adjust to the new feeling. Once he was comfortable, the Night Fury bound over to Hiccup, giddily retracting and splaying his dorsal blades excitedly showing off the new change. Petting the black dragon, Hiccup held Toothless’s face in his hands. “Did _you_ know about this?”

Valka smiled taking delight in their mutual wonder. “Every dragon has its secrets and I’ll show them all to you. We’ll unlock every mystery, find every last species, together, as mother and son. This gift we share, Hiccup... it bonds us. This is who you are, son. Who we are. We will change the world for all dragons! We will make it a better, safer place!”

“Yeah, I mean that sounds... amazing,” Hiccup agreed, watching Toothless prance around, showing off his newly discovered dorsal fins to Cloudjumper. Sadly for the excitable Night Fury, he did not seem thoroughly impressed but just the opposite.

For the first time he could remember, Hiccup felt his mother’s arms wrap around him in a hug. He froze there, in his mother’s arms, unsure how to react. Then, without any input from his brain, his arms slowly—shakily—reached up to return the gesture. They stood there, basking in the warmth of each other’s arms, the first bonding moment between mother and son in nearly two decades. Valka was reluctant to let him go when the young man peeled, a grin on his face.

“Oh, this is so great! Now you and I can go talk to Drago together!” Hiccup strung together a half-formed plan in his mind. With his mother’s help, maybe they could very well avoid the war his father was preparing Berk for.

She chuckled unbelievingly. “What? There’s no talking to Drago.”

“But we have to—” the young Viking found himself trying to reason with his mother as he had failed to do so with his father. The enthusiasm he had been feeling but moments again, dispersed while his shoulders slumped down.

“—No. We must protect our own,” Valka interrupted him, giving him no room for argument. “Now come on, we should be getting back.”

Hiccup knew a dismissal anywhere. His father was constantly doing so throughout his youth and it would appear his mother was the same. Her word, like Stoick's, was final, and they wouldn't hear any more of it. The growing fantasy of his childhood being any different than it was bursting in that moment. Sighing, the Viking ran a hand through his hair only to turn to the side at the insistent nudge of a Night Fury. There, mere inches from his face with a gaping grin, Toothless stood and once he had his rider’s attention, presented his back to clap his dorsal blades together which earned him a half-hearted grin.

“Guess it’s you and me, Bud. We’ll figure something out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what I do, please come visit (and maybe support) me at https://ko-fi.com/silverlysilence


	9. Hunting for the Hairy Hooligan Heir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to AO3, it is already tomorrow, thus Saturday when I'm posting this but in my time zone, it is still Friday, so I'm not late, you're just early for tomorrow.
> 
> ConfessedGeek: Thank you for the support and your kind words, hope you continue to like this series with the twists and turns I have planned.
> 
> PrincessMerleeno8: Personal prefs aren't always what we get, sorry to disappoint, but that's why fanfiction was born!
> 
> Einozuka: Welcome to the party, you're never late to read fanfiction, now onward to the next chapter.

The majority of the first generation of Dragon Riders from the Hairy Hooligan Tribe rested upon a lone iceberg in the middle of an otherwise vast open ocean. It wasn’t a very big iceberg, with only enough room for the dragons to bed down and rest before heading home. That they’d been resting there for the whole night was irrelevant. What was further irrelevant was the watch schedule they devised the night before to keep an eye out for their chief flying back with his wayward son. There hadn’t been a sign of either of the missing parties but there should have been since Hiccup and Stoick would have to pass by the very iceberg the Dragon Riders were resting upon in order to reach Berk.

“I don’t like it. They should’ve been back with Hiccup by now," Astrid broke the silence as Stormfly landed on the iceberg, the duo just returning from their rotation as the lookout. Hookfang opened a single eye, glancing at the Deadly Nadder before curling his tail around his body and going back to sleep.

“I don’t like it either. Eret, son of Eret, was the man of my dreams. My everything!” Ruffnut wailed from where she sat dangling her feet off the edge, inches away from the cold water below. Next to her, Barf nuzzled her side in comfort while Belch just rolled his eyes while keeping as still as possible to prevent his sleeping rider from falling.

The heavyset Viking behind the blonde woman slumped forward, dejectedly rubbing the peach fuzz on his face. “But—but…! I grew facial hair for you.”

Next to him, Snotlout slammed his face into an opened hand, mouthing ‘hopeless’ over and over again. Something which the two shieldmaidens readily agreed with but weren’t about to voice out loud.

Heather tugged at Windshear’s reins, getting the Razorwhip to take to the air and garnering the attention of those awake. “What if Drago shot them down?”

“What if they need our help?” the Deadly Nadder rider readily agreed, following her fellow shieldmaiden’s example and taking to the air once more with determination shining in her eyes. “We have to find them.”

“And bring them home,” the alchemist agreed.

“Wait… wait… what? No, but Stoick said...” Fishlegs sputtered, looking to Snotlout for support but ended up trailing off when he saw the Monstrous Nightmare rider already mounting his dragon.

“It doesn’t matter,” Snotlout grunted, yanking on Hookfang’s horns to get the idle dragon to wake up from his slumber.  

“But—”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“He’s the chief—”

“It doesn’t matter what he said," Heather effortlessly shut down the argument between the two Vikings, "if they've all been captured."

“Come on! We’re going to go pay Eret another visit,” Astrid growled out with such an air of finality that it put to rest any other disagreements before they could be voiced.

The mere mention of the Dragon Trapper had the effect of rejuvenating Ruffnut’s fervor. The blonde Viking launched herself up into Barf’s saddle where she promptly dug her heels into the Hideous Zippleback’s side. The startled Zippleback shot up into the air, jerking his other head forward and losing Belch’s rider in the process. Tuffnut jolted awake with a startled yelp, dreadlocks skimming the water’s surface as Belch held onto his leg to prevent him from sleeping with the fish.

“Uh, guys?” Fishlegs whimpered, glancing out at the endless blue landscape, only to turn around to find the iceberg deserted. Letting out a heavy exasperated breath, he climbed onto the Boulder-class dragon’s back with a huff. “Just for the record girl, I don’t agree with this course of action.”

The Gronckle tilted her head to the side before throwing herself into the air in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the dragons from her pack. Her rider’s screams at the abrupt take off were pointily ignored.

Locating Eret’s boat for the second time took them a lot longer than it had originally taken Astrid and Hiccup to find Eret’s ship. They had to backtrack a few more times than any would care to admit and stop to rest not nearly enough as they should have. The sun was starting to fall by the time they finally found the crippled longboat, one of its sails still heavily damaged from the twins’ overly destructive attack and yet, the crew of Dragon Trappers managed to sail pretty far.

Tuffnut was all for attacking the longboat again—eagerly rubbing his hands together and cackling—yet, surprisingly enough, it was his sister who vetoed the idea. Rather painfully if the blond Viking’s screams were anything to go by. In the end, it was decided Astrid would be the one to approach the boat on Stormfly, much to Ruffnut’s displeasure. Although, it was less of a diplomatic approach and more of a kidnapping.

The Deadly Nadder came in hard and fast, flying low to keep from being spotted. A smile formed on the blonde shieldmaiden’s face when she heard Eret, son of Eret’s ramblings.

“We’ve nowhere to go! Nothing to sell! And no heads to call our own, if we don’t turn up with dragons and fast—” the trapper tapered off with a scream as Stormfly scooped him up in her long talons

“Careful what you wish for!” Astrid couldn’t help but quip at the Dragon Trapper as he safely dangled hundreds of feet up in the air by the very dragons he regularly caught and sold to Drago. Not that he felt the same way judging by his terrified screams.

“ _What is this?!_ ”

“A kidnapping,” the shieldmaiden rider answered, rejoining the rest of the Dragon Riders. Behind them, they could hear shouts and screams coming from Eret’s crew which were quickly carried off by the heavy winds along with the nets and bolas uselessly fired at their leader’s kidnapper.

A yank on one of his legs from below had the Dragon Trapper glancing down to find Ruffnut clinging to said leg possessively. “Yay, can he ride with me? Can he? Can he?”

“Not on my dragon he’s not!” Tuffnut groaned in protest and oddly enough, the raven-haired man groaned as well, fighting to get away from the overly eager blonde Viking.

“Don’t worry Tuff, he’s not going to be staying too long if he doesn’t show us the way to Drago,” Heather reassured Belch’s rider, giving Eret a grin which would have made her brother proud.

The trapper recoiled at the spine-chilling grin and looked elsewhere for help. He came up empty-handed. Well, he could have gotten the blonde Viking to help him, but she creeped him out. Between her and the deranged dark-haired shieldmaiden, the only sane woman in the group was the one who had kidnapped him.

He soon had to reevaluate his conclusion with his next—in hindsight—poorly chosen words. “And help Dragon Riders sneak into Drago’s camp? Just kill me now.”

“That can be arranged. Stormfly, drop it,” Astrid ordered the Deadly Nadder.

Eret quickly learned something at that point. He swore then and there as he plummeted through the air—wailing and flailing without a drop of shame—that if he lived through this, he was going to steer clear of the isle the women came from. They were utterly insane.

Astrid, for her part, watched the trapper hurtle towards the ice below, patting the Deadly Nadder on the side for a job well done. “Good girl! Now, Stormfly, fetch.”

The Sharp-class dragon enthusiastically screeched and changed directions, diving after the flailing human. She quickly caught up to him and began circling around the trapper, not yet plucking him out of the air at her rider’s insistence.

“ _All right!_ ” Eret screamed watching as the tiny icy shards below him began to turn into thick sheets of ice and he could see the white tips of the waves lapping up on the icebergs all too clearly. “Okay! I’ll take you to Drago!”

Stormfly squawked and grabbed hold of the free-falling trapper by the foot and veered upwards to rejoin the pack. Coming up between Windshear and Hookfang she found the broad-shouldered Viking observing her with a raised eyebrow.

“Did he crack?”

“Works every time,” Astrid grinned, cracking her knuckles and sitting up just a little higher in the saddle.

“Next time, it’s my turn to interrogate the prisoners. I have this new potion that Nyx taught me but she wasn’t sure how it would react to human consumption,” Heather grinned, patting her saddlebag where the supplies of her trade were tucked safely away.

Eret looked from one rider to the next, noting that none of them were the least bit phased by the dark-haired woman’s statement and shuddered. “You’re all insane.”

“Hey, we’re not insane,” Fishlegs denied, clearly offended as he crossed massive arms over his chest and glared at the dangling trapper.

“We’re Vikings,” Snotlout corrected.

“Now, you might want to tell us where to go, or I’ll let Heather here try her new potion on you,” Astrid threatened, leaning sideways in her saddle to glare down at the man, and Eret found his arm snapping out, pointing in the general direction of Drago’s base without his consent. “See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Repositioning herself, the Deadly Nadder rider changed their bearings. “Come on girl, let’s go.”

Chirping excitedly, Stormfly accidentally let go of the trapper and dove after him once more. He didn’t fall that far, but from the way he clung to the Deadly Nadder’s talons after she retrieved him spoke of his distrust. Eret should have realized though, if Stormfly didn’t want him anywhere near her, he wouldn’t be. Something that was proven accurate a few hours later when they stealthily approached a cluster of tabular icebergs leading to a maze of ice and the Deadly Nadder didn’t hesitate to fling Eret into a snowbank in order to land safely. However, when the trapper tried to run, she pounced and nested upon the man as if he was a clutch of eggs.

“Okay! I got you here, now get this thing off me!” the Dragon Trapper shouted at the Deadly Nadder rider after she dismounted.

She stopped long enough to retrieve her axe from the saddle before heading off, throwing a parting comment over her shoulder. “Never take a toy from a dragon. Don’t you know anything?” Huffing, the insane woman patted the blue pest of a dragon on the side. “Be a good girl, Stormfly.”

The Deadly Nadder chirped and settled further down, crushing the dark-haired man in place under her weight and drawing a groan of pain from him. His groan quickly changed into a terrified squeak when the Razorwhip inched closer to him and sniffed his hair. A moment later, the metallic dragon nipped at a lock of his hair as if to eat it.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” Eret whined, watching as the group of Dragon Riders scaled up the snow embankment.

Astrid was the first to reach the top and almost tumbled over the edge given the steep incline on the other side. Snotlout was close enough to yank her back away from the edge and prevent her from taking a dip in the icy waters below. Unusually, neither of them griped at the other as was their custom, not when there was a massive flotilla and a fleet of ships tied together like a floating camp which held all of their gazes. In the middle, great blasts of bubbles erupted on the surface of the water where thick chains connected the largest ship to something below. The force from the bubbles bursting was strong enough to rock the largest ship while the smaller ones bobbed up and down violently.

“What’s down there?” Astrid wondered, crouching down next to the Monstrous Nightmare rider to keep from being seen while the others each found their own perches nearby.

“I’m not sure, how about you Fishlegs? Do you have any idea?” Heather questioned, looking over at the Gronckle rider situated on her right while leaning into Snotlout’s side.

Fishlegs straightened, not nearly a startle but close enough, and reached into one of the pouches on his belt. Pulling out a deck of thick cards, the Viking began rifling through them, stopping every once in a while to read the information before glancing up and shaking his head negatively. Finally, he stopped on a card and didn’t shuffle it back into the deck but began mumbling loud enough for all to hear.

“Large diameter bubbles, massive lungs, cold water deep dweller, I’m thinking class five Leviathan, maybe six,” the Gronckle rider concluded which wasn’t good news. They could deal with a class six, they’d done so in the past having faced off against a Shellfire and a Submaripper, both separately and combined on a few different occasions. However, it would be difficult. More so since neither Hiccup and Toothless nor Jackson was there with them.

A distressed thrill from Stormfly had the Dragon Riders whirling around fearing Eret had escaped from the Deadly Nadder, only to find the dragons were surrounded and under attack by warriors wearing white bear fur pelts. The warriors weren’t using any large metal weaponry to fight them, but tiny blow darts. None of the dragons dodged, either not seeing the tiny darts or figuring they weren’t able to penetrate through their thick scales. Whatever the reason, it proved to be their downfall as the Dragon Root laced tips took immediate effect and one by one, the dragons fell.

Fishlegs was the first to react, dropping his cards in favor of unsheathing his Gronckle Iron blade as he rushed the attackers. “Meatlug!”

He easily took out three of the warriors, staining their white furs red before two of them got the drop on him from behind and knock him out. The duo would have finished him off if not for Snotlout slamming his mace against the ice, producing a concussive force which blasted the two men towering over the groaning Gronckle rider back along with a few more men who were unlucky enough to be in the wake of the attack. Heather barreled into a man coming up behind the Monstrous Nightmare rider and used him as a springboard to launch herself into the air. Pulling the double-bladed battled-axe from her back and flipping it open, she brought the weapon down with a furious battle cry. The man moved to block the attack, but with just a blow dart to defend himself, he ended up losing an arm.

Without their weapons, the twins took the initiative to relieve the downed men of their blow darts or, at the very least, destroyed them. A few kicks to their attackers didn’t go unwarranted. Astrid took out the most warriors with her axe fueled by the rage that they’d dared to hurt her dragon. The foray lasted only minutes and appeared to be going in the Dragon Riders’ favor but they soon realized the bearskin wearing warriors were only the first wave as a second—much larger group—came out of hiding. This time, they didn’t attack the Dragon Riders outright but held their dragons at sword point instead.

Astrid took one look at their position and glared at the attackers, hands tightening around her axe.

“Ah-ah-ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Eret tutted, taking a step forward. Somewhere, in the fray of things, he’d gotten ahold of a sword and had no qualms in resting the tip of the blade on the hollow of the blonde shieldmaiden’s throat. “You might want to surrender. Now.”

Blue eyes took in her fellow Dragon Riders’ positions and that of their dragons before reluctantly dropping her axe. The others didn’t get the chance to follow as the second wave of attackers descended upon them. Their dragons were hauled on to sleds and tied down while the Dragon Riders were bound with similar lengths of rope. Astrid could only grin in a sort of defeated satisfaction when a few of the warriors attempted to relieve them of their weapons.

A man took hold of the Gronckle Iron sword’s hilt and struggled to pull it from the sheath a delirious Fishlegs had instinctively slid the weapon into during Astrid’s surrender. No matter how hard he yanked, he couldn’t pull the blade free from the sheath. Another man tried to take Snotlout’s mace but as soon as he had ahold of it, he dropped it with a cry of pain and clenched his hand now sporting a wicked burn. The weapon disappeared before it could hit the ground and reappeared in Hookfang’s saddlebag, just as both her and Heather’s axes had done yet had gone unnoticed due to the Wyldfae’s enchantments.

Soon, they were being dragged down the snowbank and onto various small boats where they were paraded through their captor’s camp. Jeers were thrown at the Dragon Riders as they were shoved onto small boats which ferried them across the water to the largest boat. Obviously, it the flagship of the fleet and constructed unlike anything the Vikings had encountered before with towering masts and multiple massive sails. None of which could deter their attention away from the armored covered dragons—too similar to Krogan’s enslaved Singetails for any of the Dragon Riders’ comfort—which surrounded them upon their rough arrival on the flagship. Their presence was more demoralizing than the Dragon Riders capture for it was living confirmation of the existence of a dragon army.

Eret confidently led the parade all the way to the bow of the boat, boasting of his efforts in capturing them to any and all crewmembers along the way. His inane chatter was enough to keep the bone-chilling shiver from running up the Deadly Nadder rider's spine at the sheer number of people and armored dragons they'd passed. What worried Astrid even more was that she knew it wasn't even a fraction of the bodies aboard this ship alone. This really was an army, vastly larger than the armadas Viggo and Ryker had at their disposal and with too many armored dragons to even begin to compare to Krogan's Flyers.

For the first time since Stoick called for war preparations did Astrid truly feel fear taking root in her heart. Living on the Edge might have prepared them for a lot of things, but this was on a whole different scale. This wasn’t just about Berk or the Edge, this was on the scale of the entire archipelago and if they—somehow—survived this, Astrid knew she’d need to warn the Wingmaidens and the Defenders of the Wing to fortify their defenses and prepare for a war of the likes of which they’d never seen. Already she was formulating battle plans and tactics based on the few visible weak points she spotted, counting on the Berserkers and Outcasts to fight alongside them.

It was only when they reached the bow did the shieldmaiden crease her battle planning to take note of the hulking figure draped in a dragon skin cloak crouched over the prow of the fleet’s grisly flagship. The man didn’t even turn upon hearing their arrival and Astrid strained to get a better look at the man wearing strange clothing clearly made from the dragons he killed. She got only the barest of glimpses of his scarred face, masked by thick, grizzly hair.

“Drago!” the Dragon Trapper greeted the well-built, hulking man right before a guard stopped Eret in his tracks. “Get off me!” the raven-haired trapper shrugged the man off, glaring at him before turning his attention back to the hulking man with a joyous smile on his face once more. “Always great to see you, my friend! Keeping warm up here?”

Upon hearing Eret’s voice, the man turned, revealing a head and beard full of thick black dreadlocks, some of which were decorated with beads made of gold and dragon bone. His skin was a shade lighter than his hair with multiple scars crisscrossing his face and a wicked looking one spanning over a beady black eye. His attire consisted of a sleeveless shirt and blue trousers held up by a thick belt. A huge black cape made from dragon skin draped over his left shoulder while his right arm was covered by various types of armor.

Slowly, Drago walked away from the railing towards the trapper, eying him in disdain. A small gesture of his hand had a few of the soldiers assisting Eret in escorting the Dragon Riders disarmed the raven-haired man of his weapons. Not that he appeared to notice as he continued on with his boasting, waving to the two sleds loaded down with their unconscious dragons. The sleds which were no longer dragged by humans, but armored dragons that bowed down and backed away from Drago as he approached.

“Well, as you can see, I’m right on time with a new batch of dragons, just like I promised,” which was when Eret’s voice dropped from being arrogant to uneasy, his gestures becoming jerky and twitchy-like. One of his hands reached form the empty sheath only to pull back immediately, face paling at the lack of weapons while a nervous laugh escaped his lips. The tension spike when Hookfang woke, rearing back and flinging back the soldiers struggling to reign him in.

“He’s waking up!”

“Drop the ropes!”

“Give me some backup here!”

“Watch out!”

“Keep him steady!”

Ignoring Eret—for now—Drago headed straight for the thrashing Monstrous Nightmare fighting against all those that wished to subdue him. “Drop the ropes.”

No questions were asked, the men let go and took a step back. Hookfang shook some of the ropes confining him free and let out a roar which chased off the remaining soldiers. Yellow eyes focused upon Drago as he closed in. Seeing the armored dragons avert their eyes and cower as Drago passed, the Monstrous Nightmare snarled.

The hulking man didn’t even falter, undaunted by Hookfang’s defiance. The reaction had the proud dragon narrowing his eyes and sucking in a giant breath. He blasted a mouth full of fire at Drago and yet, the man still didn’t halter. In a blur, he wrapped himself up in the dragon skin cloak as the Monstrous Nightmare’s sticky saliva fueled fire splattered against the fireproof scales, enveloping Drago in dripping flames as he persisted forward without missing a step.

As the blast came to an end, the dark-skinned man dropped the cloak, closing in on Hookfang and catching the dragon’s eyes in a cold stare. Snotlout’s headstrong dragon let out a ferocious roar. One which was returned by an equally fierce and a whole lot more savage scream that put an end to Hookfang’s defiance and had the dragon recoiling.

Drago wasn’t done. Grabbing a bullhook from one of his men, he whirled it overhead for all to see. The force he used to slam the bullhook down, stabbing the deck planks inches from the Monstrous Nightmare’s head, had Hookfang freezing. His aggression fading when faced with Drago’s unflinching show of dominance. After a moment, Snotlout’s dragon averted his eyes and lowered his head in compliance. To add insult to injury, the hulking man placed his Monstrous Nightmare hide boot upon Hookfang’s snout, pressing his maw further into the deck planks.

“Hookfang!” Snotlout and Heather shouted, both having to be held back by two guards each to keep them away from the Monstrous Nightmare.

“Hey!” the twins’ exclamations were overshadowed by the Deadly Nadder rider’s demands.

“What are you doing?”

Drago paid none of them any heed and placed more of his weight onto Hookfang’s jaw. “You belong to me now.”

This time, the Monstrous Nightmare didn’t fight but shrank down in submission. Yellow eyes darted to the side where Hookfang found the defeated expressions in the eyes of the armored dragons surrounding him, the same feeling that was slowly worming its way into his very soul. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at his rider, ashamed at his defeat.

Chuckling nervously, Eret made a flourishing gesture to the captured Vikings behind him. “And as an added bonus, I also caught you their riders. No extra charge.”

“ _What?!_ ” Astrid yelped, glaring at the man who had done nothing to capture them.

“Are you kidding me?!” the Razorwhip rider snapped, brandishing her teeth as her words came out in a growl.

“Aw! But you were so perfect!” Ruffnut whined, stamping her feet at how unfair life was.

“Perfectly inept,” Fishlegs grumbled.

“And traitorous,” Snotlout tacked on with a sneer.

Undeterred by their contemptuous shouts, Eret eagerly informed the bulky man stalking over about the few things he had learned. “Turns out there’s a whole bunch of them out there. They attack—”

Between one moment and the next, Drago reached the rambling man and seized him by the throat. His whole hand wrapped around the man’s neck, which he used to lift Eret up off the ground and held him up to his face. The trapper’s feet barely scuffed the deck as he flayed. Hands went to the vicelike grip around his neck and yanking at the fingers to relieve the pressure or at least suck in a breath of air.

“How many?” Drago grunted, alarm flashing in his eyes. Yet it went unnoticed by the only one who could see his face as Eret tried in vain to free himself.

The comment had a different effect on the Dragon Riders though, a renewed light entering all their eyes, as Astrid whispered out victoriously. “Drago doesn’t have them after all.”

“How Many?!” the dark-skinned man shouted, losing his temper when all Eret could do was choke and sputter out nonsense.

“Hundreds!” Heather spoke up with a wolfish grin on her face.

“A whole island full!” Astrid added, taking a step to stand before the other Dragon Riders. As the only member of Berk Guard in the group, she was the next in command when Hiccup wasn’t present. Technically, Heather—being the heir to the Berserker Tribe—and Snotlout—the chief’s nephew—outranked her, but in this situation, she was in command and it showed with how the two dark-haired Dragon Riders stepped up on either side of her, showing Drago a unified front.

The grip around the trapper’s neck tightened as Drago turned to sneer at Astrid, yet Eret’s attempts to rectify the situation through wheezes kept his attention focused on the man. “I wouldn’t worry about it. My men are hunting them down as we speak. They won’t know where you’re hiding. I promise you that.”

“Oh, yes, they will!” the blonde shieldmaiden denied, sharing a look with the others. She had a plan. The returning grins let her know the rest of them would back her play. “They know we’re missing and they have tracking dragons,” Astrid states for everyone to hear which caused Drago to release the Dragon Trapper and turn his full attention on her. Eret, from his collapsed position on the ground, looked at her as if she were crazy and started to shake his head frantically, signaling her to stop. She didn’t. “If you so much as touch us, Hiccup is gonna kick—”

“Hiccup?” Drago interrupted, drawing out the name as if he were pulling out a long-forgotten memory from the recesses of his mind.

Reaching up a feeble hand, Eret shook his head at first when he couldn’t get his strained voice to work right away. “He’s not a problem. _Really_. Trust me.”

Astrid snorted and stood up taller. “He’s only the son of Stoick the Vast,” the name had beady eyes narrowing which produced a smirk, “his heir to the throne of Berk, and the greatest Dragon Master this world has ever seen!”

“ _Dragon Master_?” Drago sneered and gestured to himself, pounding his fist to his chest as he addressed the Dragon Riders and his crew. “I _alone_ control the dragons!”

“Nope, mmm-mmm,” Tuffnut denied, making no attempt to hide his snickering.

“Sorry!” Fishlegs shrugged, stepping in front of the Thorston when one of the men holding spears took a step closer. The man immediately backed up as the heavyset Viking glared at him for daring to try and attack one of his friends, which caused him to miss the appraising look Ruffnut shot the Gronckle rider for defending her brother.

“And unless you let us go, right now, he will blast through here on his Night Fury and blow your entire fleet of ships to splinters!” Astrid finished threateningly, getting up into Drago’s face.

“Then they’ll be crying like babies!” Ruffnut drew the hulking man’s attention back towards them when she noticed the man’s hand tightening on his bullhook.

Eret used the distraction to slip away, trying to distance himself from the tension and violent outcome he knew was sure to follow.

“First there was one rider and now all of Berk,” Drago seethed and reached down to capture the trapper attempting to flee. Pulling Eret up by the neck once more, he starred into those hard eyes. “And _you_ led them to _me_!”

“Drago!” the Dragon Trapper croaked out in a vain attempt to explain yet Drago wasn’t about to listen and he threw Eret across the deck into the awaiting masses.

Whirling around, the hulking man made his way up a set of stairs to the second level of the boat where he could be seen by all and addressed his crew. “Stop all preparations! We must attack the Dragon Riders’ nest at once! We Will Take Down Their _ALPHA!_ Then We Will Take _BERK!_ ”

Soldiers started to cheer by the thousands, a wave of noise rippling across the area as other members of the crews in the surrounding boats joined in. The sheer amount of people readying to fight and die for this man had Astrid taking a step backwards to rejoin the rest of the Dragon Riders. Terror filled her every bone as the magnitude of the backlash from her actions became apparent. A glare from Eret had her wilting as the man got to his feet and turned his attention to Drago.

“Drago! You’re overreacting!” the Dragon Trapper endeavored to reason with the man.

Drago looked down from the second deck at Eret, his lip curling as he pointed his bullhorn at the young dark-haired man. “And get rid of him.”

Eret completely stopped, his breathes coming out in short huffs as Drago’s men immediately circled around him to fulfill their leader’s order. “Drago, please, I—”

He was cut off—and almost cut apart—when several soldiers hurled throwing knives at Eret from all different directions. The trapper instinctively huddled down waiting for the inevitable. Yet no blades pierced his body. Only the soft brush of harsh scales rubbed against his skin as Stormfly landed beside him, shielding Eret from the flurry of blades with her wings. The Deadly Nadder screeched at the shouting men and whipped her tail around, throwing spikes in all directions.

“ _Stormfly! No!_ ” Astrid shouted as the dragon roared. A moment later, a blown dart sunk into her neck, bringing the protective dragon down for a second time and revealing a gawking Dragon Trapper.

* * *

 

“Boar-headed! Just like his mother! Aye, she could never stay put either,” Stoick grumbled to Gobber as they flew over the frigid waves that lapped against the packed ice, looking for any sign of Hiccup.

“Eh,” the blacksmith glanced over at Stoick and upon seeing his hunched over form, brows furrowing together he attempted to console the solemn chief. “He’s just twenty. And a Viking. I mean, could there be a worse combination? Heh! When I think of how stubborn and senseless _you_ were back in the day... well, not much has changed, actually.”

Behind him, stifle chuckles were barely heard above the howling winds. Turning his head slightly, Gobber caught sight of the huddled blue form of Jackson. The teenager was forced to sit sideways due to the single occupant chair design of the saddle. His wiry arm weaving through the ropes wrapped around the chair’s back for the very purpose.

“Like father, like son?” Jackson offered up, clenching his staff closer to his body with his free hand after a particularly harsh gust of wind blew past them. Chuckling, the blacksmith nodded his head in agreement, the two sharing matching grins.

“Ah, you know what he’s like. He won’t give up, Gobber. And if Hiccup finds Drago before we find him…” the chief trailed off and the tense atmosphere the duo just managed to disperse was once again surrounding the trio. Almost suffocating with its weight, it caused Jackson to shrink into himself and the boy reached back to pull his hood over his head to hide his face. Blue eyes glared over at the redhead Viking who looked slightly guilty for triggering the reaction.

“Bah! _Nothing_ can hurt Hiccup so long as that Night Fury’s around. It’s a Night Fury!” Gobber waved him off, as much for his friend’s benefit as for the brunet’s behind him.

It seemed to do the trick because the Druid lifted his head which had the blacksmith smiling at his job well done, and Finn said he was insensitive. He would just have to shove it in his husband’s face when they got back to Berk after this whole debacle was done and over with. Gobber’s inner joy quickly evaporated when the brunet suddenly—and quite deliberately—slid off of Grump’s back, falling down to the ice-covered water below.

The Druid should have very well gone through the ice or, at the very least, cracked it with how high up they were. However, a gust of wind came out of nowhere, creating a small whirlwind around the brunet, slowing his fall to a manageable speed. He landed on the ice in a crouch, boots slipping slightly on the slippery surface yet that didn’t keep him down and he was darting off towards a hole framed by ice a second later.

“ _Jackson!_ ” both men shouted, their dragons already flying after brunet, reaching him within moments. Yet, they couldn’t land too close to the teenager who was kneeling on the edge of the thin sheet of cracked ice, his staff reaching out as he tried to snag something bobbing in the water. Neither could they fly over the top of Jackson in fear of jolting the Druid’s delicate balance on the further cracking ice which could very well have him crashing into the watery depths.

“Jackson, son, come back here,” Stoick shouted, his breath catching when the boy’s hand holding up his body slipped and plunged into the ice. A gust of wind from the opposite direction picked up at that moment, pushing him back slightly on the slick ice, keeping him from falling completely in. Not that Jackson seemed to notice, amber eyes locked on the object just out of his staff’s reach.

Not prepared for any more close calls, the chief didn’t even hesitate as he dismounted Skullcrusher and reached into the storage compartment of his saddle, pulling out a bola. Turning towards the hole in the ice, the Viking walked as far on to the sheet as the ice would allow before it started to creak under him. Then, with what came with years of practice, Stoick twirled the bola over his head with his dominant hand while his other hand held on to the rope attached to the weapon and flung it at the brunet.

The bola wrapped around Jackson’s waist and not his leg like the chief had been aiming for due to the brunet sitting back on his heels at the last moment. It worked out in his favor, for the fragile ice chose that moment to give away underneath the Druid and the bola would have never been able to hold him by the leg. As it was, the teenager’s pants were the only thing to get soak as Stoick yanked on the rope, wrenching Jackson out of the water and back onto solid ice.

Gobber was the one to berate the teenager even as he searched the burnet over for any injuries. Instantly, the chief knew something was wrong when Jackson sat there through the scolding, uncharacteristically, without making a move to defend his actions. Holding up his hand to silence the blacksmith, Stoick walked over to the boy and kneeled down next to the shivering blue-clad form.

“Jack—” Stoick said gently to garner the Druid’s attention only to cut himself off when amber eyes looked up through the hood of his cloak filled with unshed tears and there, clutched in his hands as if it was his very lifeline was the object he’d risked his life to fish out of the frigid waters.

Hiccup’s helmet.

“Is that…?” the blond Viking started to ask, only to trail off at the implication.

“ _Dad_ ,” Jackson whispered so heartbrokenly that it crushed the chief’s heart.

“Shh,” Stoick comforted the boy, enveloping him in a giant hug and didn’t let go. The chief stayed there for a stint, just until the sniffles that turned into hiccups dissolved until there was nothing left but silent tears. Then, very gently he untangled himself from Jackson and pulled the helmet out of limp fingers. Holding it out to the Rumblehorn, a determined look crossed his face. “Find them, Skullcrusher. Find them for all our sakes.”

Skullcrusher sniffed the helmet before letting out a monstrous roar as he turned his head skywards and away from the watery grave. The action alone gave them hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter didn't disappoint and found you all in good tidings with the past holidays and upcoming ones as well. See you in two weeks! In the mean time, please stop by my Ko-Fi account, I just might post something there too (I suck at this social media thing >.<): SilverlySilence


	10. The Arising Descent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so happy that all you lovely readers who commented on the Stoick-Jackson scene liked it so much, that was something that I wasn't sure if I got the heart-wrenching/tear-jerking vibe down right. 
> 
> 221BRINGit: please don't torture yourself over waiting for more chapters to come out, I'll be updating every other week, so it's not worth it.
> 
> ConfessedGeek: Just remember in the coming chapters, you're the one that said you're ready for anything.
> 
> Nat: I first have to see The Hidden World before I can even attempt to brainstorm if another part to this story is possible or not. In other words, I plead the fifth. Wait, that's for when I'm on trail; the proper response should be as follows: no comment.
> 
> Mrialupy: See reply above.
> 
> Rika: I hope you're okay and the earthquake wasn't too bad. At least you found something to keep you occupied, even if it was reading. :)
> 
> MugenYmeDansu: Welcome to the party, we have action, adventure, my sad attempts at humor and romance, along with some (hopefully) heart wrenching scenes and pre-Astrid/Eret in the foreseeable future (which is not a spoiler, since I've already stated the Fishlegs/Ruffnut paring in the tags and I would hope it's obvious where I was heading with the Astrid/Eret pairing).

“Could this day get any worse?” Snotlout grumbled and received a jab to the back for his comment. Glancing over his shoulder, he sneered at the soldier who dared poke him with a spear. Drago’s man wasn’t affected by the glare and jabbed the Monstrous Nightmare rider again, forcing him to move forward.

"Uh, let me see," Tuffnut pondered, rubbing his chin with his bound hands and looking towards the stern of the ship where the men with weapons were herding them. There, unlike the rest of the ship, just so happened to lack any railing and gave way to a steep drop off into the icy water below. “You’ll jump into freezing cold water and then die from drowning.”

“Tuff, remember that time I told you your blunt honesty was refreshing?” Heather asked, leaning over to get a good look at the ocean below. She almost fell in when the boat lurched forward and they began to move. It was only due to reflex that she shifted her weight in time to keep her feet firmly planted on the deck and away from the watery grave, for now.

“Yeah. It was one of my first compliments,” the Hideous Zippleback rider nodded his head proudly.

“Well, I’m going to have to take it back.”

Tuffnut shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time. But I totally get it, no one wants to hear about their impending demise.”

“Get on with it already!” an impatient soldier shouted, shoving his spear at the closest prisoner to him who just happened to be Eret.

The Dragon Trapper stumbled forward, yet not enough to go over the edge. Instead, he regained his footing and sauntered over. He stopped a foot away from the edge and peered overboard at the deep, icy water below. A visible shudder shook his whole body.

“Looks refreshing,” Eret commented drily, taking a step back to turn and face the inbound Deadly Nadder rider. Astrid wasn’t being cooperative and fought the two soldiers escorting her on either side every step of the way. Bravely, he met the shieldmaiden’s glare with mock chivalry, gesturing with his bound hands to go ahead of him. “Please, ladies first.”

Blue eyes intensified as the Deadly Nadder rider lashed out. “You are a steaming heap of dragon—”

“Duck,” the raven-haired man cut her off and surprisingly enough to both of them, she listened which kept her from being hit when Eret whirled around, roundhouse kicking both of the soldiers. The two went down like a sack of boulders. Their spears, on the other hand, went flying. One straight up while the other skittered forward which Eret caught with his hands bound behind his back and sliced the ropes holding him. The ropes fell away and his other hand whipped out, catching the second spear before it had a chance to hit the ground.

“Warn the others!” one of the soldiers shouted as the majority of them rushed forward to subdue the freed prisoner.

A single soldier ran in the opposite direction to sound the alarm while two others raised their blow dart weapons. Neither got far. Fishlegs used his girth to plow the man next to him into a nearby crate, putting him out of commission for the time. Tuffnut took care of the second shooter, head-butting him and knocking him out but not before he deployed a drugged dart. The dart went wide and hit one of the soldiers advancing on Eret.

“Take that!” Tuffnut shouted triumphantly as the man hit with the dart went down in a motionless heap.

“Get ‘em, you son of an Eret!” Ruffnut shouted encouragingly as she stuck out her foot. The soldier set to sound the alarm tripped over her outstretched leg and crashed hard, banging his head against the deck. He tried to get up, but the blonde Viking sat on him, her elbow hitting various vital organs as she situated herself to watch Eret twirled both spears in an invitation to fight.

The trapper didn’t disappoint and used one of the spears to swipe the legs out from underneath one of his opponent’s while using the other to skewer another. A third came up behind him with daggers positioned over vital organs, yet he didn’t get a chance to use them as Snotlout rammed into him, sending the soldier cantering forward and into the graceful roundhouse kick of Heather. Astrid got the last of the soldiers when he came up behind her. She didn’t even have to look as she slammed her foot down onto the man’s ankle and threw her head back, connecting with his nose creating two painful sounding snaps.

“Okay, I love you again,” Barf’s rider declared, standing up off the soldier and kicking him into unconsciousness as she skipped past a despondent Fishlegs on her way to Eret’s side. The heavyset Viking watched with a crestfallen expression, letting up on the man he had still pinned to the crate. Drago’s man toppled over, wheezing painfully only to let out a gust of air as Fishlegs dropped down and sat on the man in his despair.

“Ugh. Pathetic. You can still jump,” Tuffnut informed the Gronckle rider as the heavyset Viking watched Ruffnut throw herself at the trapper.

Eret avoided the blonde Viking by turning to address Astrid. “So? Are we going to save your dragons and get out of here or not?”

“Hm,” the shieldmaiden acknowledged with narrowed eyes, not knowing what to make of the sudden change in the Dragon Trapper. Still, she had to admit—only to herself—that he had been rather impressive.

“Check every trap. They’re here somewhere,” the trapper informed them as he reclaimed his weapons from the unconscious soldier and began cutting them free, starting with Tuffnut.

“That’s going to take time we haven’t got,” Heather shook her head as the ropes around her arms fell free and she began to rub her wrist to ease the pain. “Not to mention, we’ve got to worry about the other guards as well.”

“Don’t worry babe, I’ve got it covered. We’ll find our dragons in no time at all,” Snotlout puffed out his chest only to glare at the trapper as he passed him over to cut Astrid’s ropes next.

“And how are you going to do that? I know this ship better than any of you and I don’t even know where to begin searching for your dragons,” Eret shot over his shoulder, working to cut Fishlegs free.

Grinning, the Monstrous Nightmare rider pursed his lips together and let out a low-pitched whistle. A beat later a burnt-orange blur could be seen darting between crates and tarps before making a beeline towards Snotlout when the coast was clear. The ball of light settled in front of the burnet Viking, the glow fading to leave behind a hand size Dewdrop Faerie with dark amber eyes and light brown hair tied high on her head in intricate braids. Her wings beat a few more times, rustling the Tiger Lily dress she wore, in agitation upon seeing the Dragon Riders’ ruffed up appearance before zooming around Snotlout and slicing the ropes still binding him

“Fawn, I don’t care what anyone else says, you’re the best Wyldfae out there,” Snotlout gave a toothy grin, having witnessed Eret fall over himself trying to backpedal and scurry away from the Dewdrop Faerie. Fawn let out a little tinker and zipped around him before heading off over to Heather to give her the same treatment.

“Wha—what is that thing?!” Eret stuttered as the burnt-orange orb of light left a giggling Razorwhip rider and headed for Fishlegs.

“That _thing_ is a Wyldfae and _she’s_ the best tracker you’ll ever find. She’s going to lead us to the dragons,” Astrid patted the trapper’s shoulder as she walked by so she could eye the little fae with a disapproving frown. “How’d you get here anyways?”

Fawn stopped in her examination, letting out a few chimes and pointed to Snotlout before heading over to the twins. Blue eyes turned, probing the Monstrous Nightmare rider for an answer who was looking everywhere else but at her.

All she had to do was raise an eyebrow and the Viking caved and shrugged. “She might have snuck into my saddlebag before we left Berk.”

“Well, it’s a good thing she did,” Heather grinned at Snotlout, pointing to the burnt-orange light hovering around a tarp quite some ways away, shimmering and circling the tarp impatiently before taking off and flying in a different direction to repeat the process over another area. “It looks like we’ll need to split up to get the dragons. I’ll take the first trap, see you in Valhalla.”

“I’ve got the second tarp,” Snotlout grinned as the two took off towards the indicated areas.

“We’ll get the rest, come on,” the Deadly Nadder rider agreed, catching sight of the burnt-orange orb as it drifted above a few crates out in the distance. The blonde shieldmaiden headed towards Fawn with the other Dragon Riders following. Eret stood there for a moment, not sure what to do but when they disappeared around a corner and out of sight, he quickly jumped to action, chasing after them.

“I’ve got this,” Fishlegs whispered when Fawn indicated to another tarp and disappeared inside.

Astrid was the next to slip under a tarp and found herself confronted with a closed metal dome. Blue eyes couldn’t find any openings in the trap save for the jagged lines where the two parts of the dome clamped at the top. Another sweep had her eyes landing on a crankshaft near the base which she hurried over to. The top of the dome gave a groan in protest as the shieldmaiden cranked the gears before slowly opening enough to allow her peer inside after a short climb.

Inside the massive iron teeth, a very familiar Gronckle was strapped down by leather and chains to the base as if she were some kind of bait. “Meatlug?”

A sound from outside the tarp had Astrid freezing and listening. Heavy footfalls resounded as Drago’s men hurried about on deck. Not knowing if the soldiers discovered their escape or not, the shieldmaiden kicked the release off on the crankshaft while jumping into the trap as it slammed closed behind her with a metallic snap. A moment later, a man peeked through the tarp and upon seeing nothing wrong, moving on his way.

On the other side of the ship, carefully cranking another trap opened and wincing at the sounded it made, Eret glanced up at the iron jaws of the dome opening wider with every click. “Anyone coming?”

“I don’t know. You just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep crankin’,” Ruffnut—who was supposed to be standing guard seeing how the trap was sitting out in the open—was too busy fixated on Eret’s rippling biceps and waved off the comment.

Sighing, the trapper grunted as he locked the crankshaft in place and climbed up the trap. He squeezed between the cocked teeth to jump down. Inside, he found the very dragon that saved his life muzzled and chained. The Deadly Nadder let out a squawk upon seeing him but didn’t lash out like so many other dragons he’d captured did when confronted. He paused, not sure what to do. Approaching slowly, he carefully reached out—intending to calm the Deadly Nadder by giving her a pet—but hesitated.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Eret said, head dropping in shame. A nudge at his hand had the trapper looking up in awe as one of the creatures he had hunted down purred while he stroked her muzzle. “Now let me return the favor.”

“Guards, the guards are coming,” Tuffnut’s harsh whisper—along with the sound of his scurried footsteps—echoed throughout the trap. Belch’s rider faltered upon noticing only his sister presence and Fawn buzzed agitatedly near his head. “Hey, where’s Eret?”

“I’m in here,” the raven-haired man reassured the blond from inside the dome and, although Eret couldn’t see it, Tuffnut nodded in response.

He did, however, hear the distinctive sound of the crankshaft’s locking mechanism being released and a somewhat gleeful snigger. “Oh, good, stay in there and hide.”

“Hey, wait, what are you doing?” Eret shouted but it was too late, the trap already snapped shut.

Outside of the dome trap, Tuffnut grabbed his sister’s hand and he pulled her along as Fawn lead the way through the stacked crates. “Come on, Fawn found Barf and Belch.”

“Wha—? But Er—et!” Ruffnut whined, glancing back at the trap with longing in her eyes. She immediately clamped her mouth shut when a group of Drago’s men marched passed the dome trap and scurried out of sight before they could be spotted.

* * *

Morning dawned on the mountain sooner than Hiccup would have liked. Then again, he had been up for some time as it was, just thinking. In less than a day, his whole world turned upside-down. His life was just beginning to go the way he wanted it to. He, with the help of Finn and Gobber, finished construction of the hut in the cove that would—hopefully—be his and Jackson’s home less than a moon cycle past and was in the process of coordinating with Typhan through Terror Mail to get the place furnished. He wanted everything to be perfect and ready for when he asked the Druid to be his betrothed. However, his father just had to drop the whole tribe in his lap, disrupting his plans and leaving him terrified.

Jackson was kind enough to cover for him and give him space to think which only led to further problems. Problems that quickly cascaded into even larger, more devastating problems with the possibility of war when he ran across Dragon Trappers building a dragon army for Drago Bludvist. He wasn’t even sure if it was a good thing or not. On one hand, finding out about Drago led to an explosive argument with his father. On the other hand, because of searching for Drago, he found his mother.

Sighing, Hiccup stood and stretched, watching the dragons down below in the utopian nest begin to do the same, spreading their wings to fly. Chittering from behind him had the young man turning away from the edge of the cliff to face the curled sleeping form of Toothless. Though, he wasn’t asleep for much longer as several Scuttleclaw hatchlings circled their new playmate, excitedly screeching to wake him. When that didn’t work, the hatchlings began to nip and pull at the Night Fury which had Toothless jolting awake.

Ear-plates rose high while wide acid green eyes sought out the potential threat only to land on the Scuttleclaws. One of them reached over and began licking his face. He glared at them before his eyes soften and he reached out a paw, catching a second hatchling and playfully nipped at her tail. The hatchling screeched out in excitement, working her way out from underneath the gentle grasp and hissed at the bigger dragon, tail wagging behind her as she waited for him to give chase.

“Well, Bud, we can’t wait around for Drago to attack this place. We’ve gotta find him first,” Hiccup spoke to the Night Fury watching him play tag with the little Scuttleclaws. Hands were not idle as he picked up and fastened on the rest of his armor he’d discarded in favor sleeping comfortably while double-checking he had all his supplies. Once he was sure he got everything, he smiled sadly as he watched Toothless playfully swat the hatchlings’ heads, hating that he had to break up their fun. “Let’s go.”

Toothless grumbled out an acknowledgment and turned to the hatchlings. He gave each one a lick to the head before sending them scurrying off with a roar. The Night Fury watched them go, with a look in his eyes that had Hiccup feeling guilty for taking the dragon away from his game.

Running a hand through auburn hair, the Dragon Rider sighed. He wanted to reassure Toothless there would be time later for him to play with the hatchlings but he couldn’t. Not when someone grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth to muffle the involuntary scream that wrenched itself from his lips; not that was the Dragon Rider’s only reaction. No, he was already going for the dagger on his arm bracer prior to hearing the gruff voice he had heard all throughout his childhood.

**“** Easy now,” Stoick whispered, holding up his unoccupied hand to calm the Night Fury crouched down and growling threateningly to tear the chief apart before Toothless saw it was his rider’s sire. It was then the dragon sat upright and tilted his head to the side, eyes reverting from vertical slits to wide black pupils. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, but he knew the taller Viking would never hurt Hiccup.

**“** Are you kidding me? How'd you get in here?” the auburn-haired Dragon Rider all but shouted as he broke away from his father’s hold. He needed to release the adrenaline racing through his veins from the fight or flight impulse and yelling at his father seemed to be the only option at the moment.

**“** Same way we’re getting you out,” the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe said, looking around from some kind of threat. He shoved Hiccup’s lost helmet into the young man’s hands and motioned towards the cave opening large enough for a human to comfortably walk through but not many dragons.

**“** _We?!_ ” Hiccup asked, speaking too soon as Gobber leaned out of the cave opening, pushing the metal mask attached to his helmet up.  

**“** All clear!” the blacksmith spoke up, however, the young man barely heard what he said. His attention was elsewhere, vivid green eyes were drawn towards the thin figure behind Gobber. Toothless immediately perked up upon seeing Jackson standing behind the older man, crooning ever so slightly just as Hiccup’s heart did.

“Jackson?” Hiccup let the shock seep through his voice. “How’d you get here?”

“Grump gave me a lift,” Jackson folded his arms in such a way that he wouldn’t snap the staff he clenched tightly in his right hand. His words though had Toothless growling at the mention of the Druid riding another dragon. He didn’t like it when his rider rode other dragons and he definitely didn’t like it when Jackson rode other dragons. Something that Hiccup secretly agreed with the Night Fury on, but didn’t dare speak it out loud and incur the brunet’s wrath. He looked angry enough as it was and the young man didn’t want that simmering anger directed at him. “Do not give me that, Toothless. You left me on a _Dragon Trapper’s_ ship. How else was I going to get back?”

Hiccup winced at that, realizing the simmering anger in those amber eyes was already directed in his direction. He wasn’t the only one feeling remorse as the Night Fury hunched in on himself and whined softly. After all this was over, both of them were going to have to do some serious groveling to make it up to the Druid.

“Now isn’t the time for chitchat,” Stoick grumbled, grabbing hold of his son by the bicep to drag him through the cave opening.  Gobber led the way, tugging Jackson along behind him before the brunet could say anything else while the Haddocks took up the rear.

“Toothless. Come,” Stoick called out, not that he really needed to since Toothless was already following faithfully behind his stunned rider. That didn’t keep Hiccup from looking back to see the Scuttleclaws peeking out from over the top of the cave opening before the sanctuary’s tranquility was tore from his sight as he was pulled into the dark rocky cavern.

“Ah, Dad! There’s something you need to know!” Hiccup tore his eyes away from the dragon utopia behind him and directing them towards his father. Although, if they strayed to the irate teenager’s head and not his father at first, it wasn’t his fault. There were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. 

**“** Yeah, yeah, tell me on the way,” not that his father would listen it would seem.

Hiccup needed to make him listen. It would have been easier if he wasn’t being hauled through the semi-dark and cramped cavern, especially with his leg. He stumbled a few times which normally wouldn’t be a problem, but with his father pulling on his arm, he almost fell on his face. Toothless kept that from happening and helped steady the young Viking.

“This isn’t an ‘on the way’ kind of update, actually—” he tried again, attempting to use Stoick’s hold on him to catch the chief’s attention. His timing wasn’t the best since his father chose that moment to let go of his hold on his son’s arm in order to climb over a few boulders. The auburn-haired Viking had an easier time following his father over the top of the boulder and quickly caught up to him.

“I’ve heard enough, Hiccup,” Stoick said with finality that would have anyone else knowing the conversation was over. They were already falling behind the others because of Hiccup’s constant talking, dividing the chief’s attention and slowing their progress. He could no longer see the blue cloak Jackson wore in the dark and the faint sounds of Gobber’s peg leg pattered on stone becoming fainter and fainter with time.

However, Stoick forgot one thing, he was talking to his son and that young man was just as stubborn—if not more so than him—and the Night Fury rider kept pressing on, “—more—more of the earth-shattering development variety.”

**“** Yeah, just add it to the pile,” the chief grumbled as he turned himself sideways to squeeze through two rocks. Hiccup, on the other hand, didn’t need to do any squeezing to fit between the rocks. When he glanced back to make sure Toothless was still there, he caught a brief glimpse of the dragon trying to stuff himself through the opening but failed with his current position. He ended up having to crawl through the opening sideways

“Yeah, I… uh—uh… Dad, unlike most surprises I spring on you, this one you’ll like. I promise! You just have to handle it delicately, so…” Hiccup trailed off as they rounded a tight bend in the cavern to find Gobber staring blankly at something unseen to the two Haddocks and Jackson stuck behind him.

“Gobber?” the brunet questioned, not sure what was going on with the Viking. He had never seen the man like this before and when Jackson tried to get around the taller man to see what laid in the ice chamber before him, the man’s hold on his shoulder kept him in place.

“Are you okay?” Jackson asked, holding on to the man who looked like he was about to fall over. “You looked like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Oh, boy,” Gobber shook his head negatively and the Druid behind him shuffled him to the side to sit down on a rock before he fell over. The blacksmith looked up in a dazed fashion and motioned from the chief to the opening he’d stopped in front of. “Uh, you might want to take this one.”

Stoick looked at his oldest friend strangely but nodded his head and moved forward, drawing his sword as he walked bravely into the chamber ahead.

“Oh… uh… Dad, can you put the sword away...please?” Hiccup attempted one last time to get his father’s attention before things could escalate any further and he was ignored, again.

“What’s going on?” Jackson whispered, amber eyes filling with confusion and curiosity as he followed after the Haddocks. Before the young auburn-haired man could answer—and he was going to answer the brunet in hopes of wriggling his way out of the Druid’s ire—the loud gasp from Stoick and the clattering of his sword to the ground drew Jackson’s attention.

“Oh,” the softly spoken exclamation came from the usually loud chief had the Druid clamoring to get a good look at what was going on. He wasn’t the only one, both Hiccup and his mentor did the same and the three of them peered around Stoick’s rather vast form. Gobber and Toothless leaned over his left side while the two younger leaned over the chief’s right side to catch sight of what held the man’s attention

Standing some twenty paces ahead of them, blocking the path was an older woman; one that Jackson instantly recognized but couldn’t put a finger on how he knew her. “Who is she?”

Neither blacksmith nor apprentice answered his whispered query. An audible shudder had amber eyes looking back at the woman and Stoick. The latter of which slowly took his helmet off his head and held it in front of him out of respect.

“I know what you’re going to say, Stoick,” the auburn-haired woman starting speaking which had the brunet cocking his head to the side at the obvious familiarity between them. “How could I have done this? Stayed away all of these years. And why didn’t I come back to you? To our son.”

“ _Our_ s _on?_ ” Jackson echoed, amber eyes snapping towards Hiccup who smiled and slowly nodded his head. He could see the brunet had more questions but held his tongue as Valka continued to speak after sucking in a deep breath.

“Well, what sign did I have that you could change, Stoick? That anyone on Berk could?” while she spoke, Stoick slowly moved up the platform of ice and stone to the emotional woman, mesmerized as closed the gap.   “I pleaded so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer, but did any of you listen? I know that I left you to raise Hiccup alone... but I thought he’d be better off without me. And I was wrong, I see that now, but...”

With every step, Valka became increasingly flustered. Her voice rising in desperation as she backed into the wall of ice behind her. Stoick, on the other hand, didn’t make a sound as he walked closer, and he took the final step forward into her personal space.

“Oh! Stop being so stoic, Stoick. Go on, shout, scream, say something!” Valka cried out distraught.

Gently, he reached out a hand and caressed her face. “You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.”                              

His words snuffed out any retort she had, rendering the woman speechless. She softened despite herself. Finally, she yielded her cheek into the callused palm. Ever so slowly, Stoick stroked the familiar contours of her skin as a reluctant tear intertwined with his fingers as he leaned in. Chapped lips ghosted over smooth ones in a brief kiss. At first, Valka resisted but only for a moment before her hand lost its hold on her staff—allowing it to fall uselessly to the ground—in order for her to wrap her arms around the man’s broad shoulders.

“Lost loves reuniting after all this time,” Gobber sniffled, wiping a tear from his eye. “It’s so beautiful.”

“I know,” Hiccup nodded, warmed by the sight of his parents reuniting. “We didn’t even know she was alive until yesterday.”

“Oh, you mean when you left me on that boat?” Jackson grumbled under his breath, not wanting to ruin the moment but clearly still bitter. The idiot had made him believe he was dead after abandoning him with potentially dangerous people. Of course, he was glad to see Hiccup was safe and delighted for Stoick, but that didn’t make up for what the Dragon Rider had put him through. Put them all through.

“I’m going to go check on Grump and Skullcrusher. Maybe you can show Jackson around, Hiccup? Give them some space, hmm?” the blacksmith motioned to Valka and Stoick, the two of them in their own little world.

Hiccup glanced back from looking at his parents, feeling reluctant to leave. He knew his father needed some time alone with his mother. He already had Valka all to himself for most of the previous afternoon, it was only fair Stoick had some time together. Besides, there was someone he wanted Jackson to meet.

“Yeah, sure,” the Dragon Rider agreed with a nod, glancing over at his parents.

Jackson felt his lingering anger towards Hiccup evaporate upon catching sight of joy filled vivid green eyes watching over his parents. Yet, when Hiccup continued to stand there, making no attempt to follow through with the blacksmith’s suggestion, the brunet found his shoulders drooping. He made to move towards the Viking, but abruptly aborted the action and held himself back. Jackson turned to Gobber for support only to catch sight of the man’s back disappearing down one of the tunnels.

“Maybe I should just go help Gobber,” the Druid offered halfheartedly.

“No, no, I’ll show you around,” Hiccup reassured him, turning and giving him a smile. “Come on.”

The simple smile had Jackson feeling lighter and relenting, allowing himself to be steered towards one of the other tunnels leading from the chamber. When he reached the opening, he stopped when he felt something off. He found out why when he turned to find Hiccup had stopped a few paces back and was back to watching the couple whisper sweet nothings to one another.

Feeling a pang at being forgotten, Jackson felt his heart drop. He stood there for a moment, waiting to see if Hiccup would turn around and give him one of those smiles which had him forgiving the Viking instantly. Hiccup never turned and the Druid bowed his head, hoping his hair would hide the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. A nudged at his hand and amber eyes focusing on acid green eyes looking up at him with wide pupils.

“You haven’t forgotten about me, have you, Toothless?” the Druid whispered and Toothless’s warbled in response, nuzzling his head against the brunet’s side in comfort. Chuckling feebly, Jackson wiped his eyes in the arm warmer on his left arm before reaching out and petting the Night Fury. "Want to show me around? And maybe later, I'll steal Hiccup's leg—let's see how he feels being abandoned somewhere without any way back—and we can play fetch with it, what do you say?"

Ear-plates perked up and Toothless eagerly ran in circles around him before bounding down the tunnel, stopping a little way ahead and turned around, waiting for him. Laughing, Jackson headed after the Night Fury having to run to keep up with the dragon. Though, he quickly learned this tunnel was different than the one they’d used earlier which allowed light to filter through because this tunnel did not. The Night Fury had no trouble navigating through the darkness with his echolocation but the brunet wasn’t so lucky. However, Jackson was a Druid and with a whisper _Liget_ the clear crystal dangling from his staff lit up. The race was on after that.

Toothless won because as soon as they exited the tunnel into an oasis of beauty, Jackson slowed down to stare in wonder at everything around him. Where they had come out of the tunnel, there was a small opening surrounded by thick foliage but what little he could see was amazing. He took notice of the ice blending seamlessly with the rock of the mountain creating the dome and helping to sustain the microclimate. Taking a step back to get a good look at the waterfall he could see peeking over the tall trees, the Druid bumped into something.

Turning, amber eyes didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with the thick foliage surrounding him. However, after spending years as a member of the Dragon Training Academy, his eyes immediately went to the four identical three petal blooming flowers with anthers sticking out and long green spinning stems. Taking a deep whiff, the smell of honey filled his nose which confirmed his suspicions.

“Aren’t you a beautiful Snaptrapper,” Jackson cooed, reaching into his leg pouch and retrieving a few of the dragon treats he kept on hand. Dropping one into each of the flowers, the four jaws closed revealing an elongated head with yellow eyes. The four heads chowed down on the little treats compared to the large heads and when the first one swallowed, a chirp of delight emerged followed by three more twitters.

It was then the oasis really came to life as the foliage ruffled and dragons of every size emerged to get a better look at him. A few of the larger dragons held in their maws struggling hatchlings which had the Druid groaning, stealing himself to his fate as the small dragons broke free. They swarmed Jackson, chittering out in pure bliss as they fought to get right next to him.

“It’s nice to meet you all too,” Jackson cooed as a baby Monstrous Nightmare climbed up his back and poked her head out from underneath his cloak. A Gronckle was nuzzling his foot while a purple Deadly Nadder used his hair as a nest. A giant nudge to his side had him finding a few of the larger hatchlings, Scuttleclaws if memory served him correctly. “Oh, you’re all so cute. I just want to take you all home with me and play with you to my heart’s content. What do you think, Toothless, should I get myself my own dragon?”

The Night Fury sat down and gave the burnet his most unimpressed look with half-lidded eyes and ear-plates back.

Jackson laughed and plucked the Deadly Nadder off his head, placing the little hatchling down on the ground with the rest of the swarm. “Don’t worry, I’m only kidding Toothless. No need to give me that look.”

Snorting, the black dragon shook his head as the brunet struggled to reach behind him to grab the baby Monstrous Nightmare off his back. Walking over to Jackson, Toothless stood on his hind legs, placing his front paws on the Druid’s shoulders and let his teeth slid out. The Night Fury gently grabbed the Stoker-class dragon by her long neck and pulled her out from under the blue cloak. Dropping down to his feet, he placed the Monstrous Nightmare down with the rest of her clutch and nudged her forward with his nose.

“Thank you,” Jackson smiled, ruffling the Night Fury’s ear-plates before reaching back in his pouch to withdraw a hand full of dragon treats and Algaenite. Giving the largest one to Toothless, the teenager turned to the swarm of hatchlings surrounding him, observing his every move. “Okay little ones, I’m sorry to say, but I don’t have enough of these for all of you, but we’re all going to have a little fun. Okay?”

The hatchlings looked at him strangely, not seemingly understanding a word of what was being said, but the Druid knew better. Finally, one of the little dragons, the Deadly Nadder who had used his head as a perch, stepped forward and nodded his head.

“Great,” the brunet smiled, kneeling down and patting the little Sharp-class dragon on the head. “Now, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to throw these treats as far as I can and you’re going to chase after them. Think of them as prey your hunting.” Wings started to flutter in excitement at the prospect of hunt prey which had Jackson laughing as he stood up. “Right. Ready, set, _Go!_ ”

Throwing the tiny treats as hard as he could, the hatchlings squawked and chirped, racing after them while the adult dragons watched in amusement. All of them assumed it would be easy for even the littlest of dragons to catch up with the pieces of food. None believed a human could throw them that far or fast enough to best their hatchlings. Toothless was the only one who knew better.

“ _Winds!_ ” Jackson called on his oldest friend and they answered his call. There was a whistling sound as the winds picked up, racing through the channels in search of him before bursting out of the tunnel behind him in a harsh gust of wind. They easily scattered the treats, pushing them further outwards only seconds before the fastest hatchling reached one. A startled squawk came from the smaller dragons before they quickly regrouped and chased after their prey.

The older dragons, on the other hand, were looking at the Druid in awe. Not that Jackson noticed, too busy watching the hatchlings dive through the air as the winds carried the treats around, just out of reach. However, a nudge at his back had the brunet stumbling. Amber eyes looked behind him to find the Snaptrapper he'd fed earlier pushing him forward while the other dragons began to either fly off or walk further inwards. Another pushed from the green dragon had Toothless rounding on the Mystery-class dragon, growling.

“Hold on Toothless,” Jackson held his staff to the Night Fury’s chest to keep him from attacking. “I think they just want me to follow them.”

Chirping, all four heads bobbed up and down in agreement.

“See, nothing to worry about,” the brunet smiled before a thoughtful look crossed his face as a few of his past encounters with unknown dragons crossed his mind. “I hope. You’ll keep me safe, won’t you?”

Snorting, the Night Fury did the equivalent of raising a single eyebrow before giving in and nodding his head.

“Great, now let’s go see where they lead us,” Jackson grinned, following the trampled path just created by a heavyset dragon he had no clue what species it was. Toothless was right beside him, keeping him from wandering off when something new caught his attention. Soon, the agitated black dragon began to relax as if he knew where the other dragons were taking them.

Finally, the mismatched group reached a plateau which had a steep drop off right across from the largest waterfall in the microclimate. There the dragons all stopped, yet when Jackson stopped too, he was nudged forward. Looking over to Toothless for an explanation, he found the black dragon glancing worriedly out at the waterfall. Letting out a soft warble, the Night Fury pushed his head under the Druid’s hand and rubbed his head against lax fingers.

“I take it I’m supposed to walk over there?” Jackson turned towards the dragons standing behind him. One of them nodded which had the Druid glancing back at the waterfall.

Taking a deep breath, Jackson walked over to the edge. He didn’t even have to look down to find what the dragons had wanted him to see. Not when a colossal mound of white began to rise up and an icy pool of blue bigger than his whole body appeared right before him. It took him a moment to realize he was looking into the eye of a massive snow colored dragon.

The Druid almost collapsed to his knees as the dragon’s sheer power washed over him. His whole body quivered as he fought to stay upright at what Jackson assumed was only a wisp of the power the dragon possessed. He was a hair’s breadth away from succumbing to the overwhelming pressure bearing down upon him—forcing him to his knees—when the crystal on the staff he was desperately clinging to lit up without his conscious input.

Golden light pulsed outward and surrounded him in a dome. The unrelenting pressure assaulting him came to an abrupt end, allowing Jackson to greedily suck in gulp after gulp of air he’d been denied moments prior. Once his breathing was under control, vivid amber orbs trailed over the dragon taking in every last detail only to return to the icy blue eyes seconds later.

“King of Dragons.”

Those three simple words rang out in the otherwise deadly silence.

“But…you’re not her. You’re not from Berserker Island, are you?”

The white dragon blinked but gave no other indication of having heard the tiny human.

“The egg. It was still yours too? The other one of you, the one under Berserker Island, she’s your mate.”

The dragon nodded, but only once.

This time, the Druid’s knees did give out from under him and he fell to his knees, head bowed as a single tear slid down his cheek. “I’m so sorry. Krogan never should have gotten ahold of your egg.”

A chilly breeze encased the young teenager, causing him to look up to find the colossal dragon releasing a breath, creating a dust of shimmering flakes which rained down on him. The magic encircled Jackson, gentle and kind. Embracing him tenderly and conveying the dragon’s benevolence.

“I know you,” the Druid stated, feeling something long dormant inside of him flicking in recognition. “You’re _the_ head dragon Mr. Vadderung spoke of.”

Up until then, the dragon had shown no outward emotion, but Jackson could have sworn he saw a glimmer of approval enter those blue eyes before the dragon nodded.

“You found me, _saved me_ ; it was you who had Grump take me to Berk when I first arrived.”

For a third time, he received only a nod.

“Why?” the question just slipped out without his consent and he hurried to backtrack, waving his hands in front of him frantically. He almost hit himself with his staff in his haste. “Not that I’m not grateful, because I am. Really, I am. I like living and you saved me and I’m thankful, really thankful because of you I got to meet Hiccup, but I just don’t understand why.”

A chuckle from the dragon had the teenager calming down and staring up into icy blue eyes. Releasing a breath of air, the brunet shook his head and attempted to settle his racing heart and equally racing mind.

“Let me rephrase that. Thank you for saving me,” the Druid bowed. Standing up, Jackson looked up at the snowy white dragon who dipped his head in acknowledgment. The dragon then let out an icy breath, blanketing the brunet in a comforting embrace and for the first time in four years, Jack felt winter stirring in his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am stumped right now, why is there no suitable love interest for Tuffnut? I mean, in Race to the Edge, we see a Fishlegs/Heather relationship, a weird Throk/Ruffnut debt of honor thing, a subtle hint of Snotlout/Minden, and even a Dagur/Mala marriage, but Tuffnut? He gets nothing. Not even a teeny, tiny, smidge of a crush vibe going on. Even in fandom, Tuffnut pairings are rare and they don't even make much sense to me. I am at a loss.
> 
> In other news, I managed to incorporated more of Race to the Edge into the story to bridge the series in. Now if only I had time to write my headcanon for how Jackson's involvement changed the series...but I don't and what time I do have is put into finishing this story instead. I hope that's a good trade off.


	11. Dreaming and Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, OMG, OMG! I received my very first (that I didn't not commission myself) fanart! That just made my day and thus, I have to thank xerzi profusely. The truly amazing artist has captured Jack exactly how I imagined him as he fooled Dagur into believing he was Jökul Frosti in Chapter 30 of Soul of a Druid. If you're interested in the lovely artwork, I've already put added it to the aforenoted chapter and have a link to the amazing xerzi's profile. Please go check both of them out!
> 
> Now that I've calmed down a little, it would seem that a lot of my lovely reviewers have the same thought that Tuffnut might just be asexual, which is a possibility. However, he did mention to Snotlout that he didn't want the Wing Maidens to get the wrong idea when Snotlout was clinging a little too closely to Tuffnut (Snotlout's Angels) and it was alluded that Tuffnut did want to settle down and would hope his sister wouldn't get in the way of that either (Snuffnut and A Gruff Separation), so I think asexual might be out. 
> 
> Hope you all had a Merry Christmas (or if you don't celebrate, just had a good day in general) and I now leave you with what many of you have been asking for: The Dancing and The Dreaming.

“Jackson… Jackson… Jack!” Hiccup shouted looking around the sanctuary for any sign of the Druid. There were too many tall ferns ruffling in the winds and a few distant dragons’ roars but no Jackson. At one point, he caught a glimpse of blue and his hopes had spiked only to come crashing down when he found a sleeping Terrible Terror and not his brunet. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…why couldn’t I have just paid attention? This never would have happened if I just paid attention. Gah!”

Running a hand through his hair, the young man looked around the vast cavity wondering how he was going to locate a single individual.   “What am I going to do?”

A thought struck him and Hiccup hope with all his might it would work. Bringing his hands up to cup around his mouth, he let loose a Night Fury roar. There was a beat of silence before an answering call met his ears. Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Hiccup headed in the direction the call originated from. Some ways into the vast sanctuary, he had to let out another roar to reorient himself and not long latter, Toothless came bounding up a rocky path.

“Toothless, Bud, oh am I glad to see you,” Hiccup grinned, the Night Fury nuzzling into his stomach and warbling happily. Grabbing hold of the dragon’s head, the Viking looked Toothless straight in the eyes. “Please, please say you know where Jackson is.”

The Night Fury cocked his head to the side and the auburn-haired man felt dread crept up his spine at the lack of response. Then, Toothless perked up and eagerly nodded.

“Oh, thank Odin,” the Dragon Rider collapsed and wrapped his arms around Toothless’s neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please, please take me to him.”

Breaking free from his rider's hold, the dragon happily bound off back down the way he'd come and Hiccup scrambled to his feet to follow after him. The steep rocky path was a little narrow and hard to maneuver down, but with a change of his prosthetic, he was able to walk down the winding path without slipping. As he turned the last corner, he was met with the sight of the large pool of water the Bewilderbeast claimed for his own.

Even now, the King of Dragons was resting in the water. Around the alpha, dragons were in the various states of play and rest. Some of the older dragons were watching the hatchlings flitter about from one rock formation to the next in some kind of game of tag. Another bunch of small-wings were splashing away in the waters with a few of the younglings and two or three adults joining in. Yet, there was no sign of Jackson.

Turning to Toothless, the Viking found the Night Fury swarmed with the same Scuttleclaws hatchlings as before. Patiently, he bopped each of them on the head and gave them a small warble as he bobbed the last dragon’s head. The hatchlings chirped back and ran off into the water, splashing with the rest of the smaller dragons as the black dragon followed. He stopped at the shore and turned, looking at his rider, waiting patiently.

Walking over to the Night Fury, Hiccup looked at Toothless who bobbed his head up. Vivid green eyes followed up—and up and up _and up_ —the Bewilderbeast’s tusk to the top of the snowy white dragon’s head. There nestled in between one of the eyebrow-like spines was a dot of blue.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the Dragon Rider breathed out in disbelief. He’d gotten the impression that other than the hatchlings, no one dared to cross the Bewilderbeast.   His mother made an offhanded comment about the alpha tolerating her presence—and apparently liked Hiccup—but rarely allowed her to ride him unless it was absolutely necessary.

The implications of the memory spurred Hiccup into action, mounting the Night Fury with great haste and urging Toothless to hurry so they could collect the Druid before the Bewilderbeast woke. Flying over the top of the massive dragon wasn’t a long journey but it seemed to take forever. As he closed in, he noticed that the brunet’s blue hood was pulled up over his head and he was leaning heavily against the spine next to him, clearly asleep. Hiccup was conflicted. Jackson looked so peaceful sleeping there and he got the feeling the brunet hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, having been up all night searching for him. Yet, he knew he _needed_ to get Jackson down and off the Bewilderbeast quickly.

“Jackson…Jack wake up,” Hiccup harshly whispered, hoping he wasn’t making enough noise to disturb the alpha.

The Druid stirred, clenching his staff tighter to his body and grumbled in his sleep. “Don’t wanna. Go way, me sleepin.”

“Jackson, now’s not the time to sleep. We’ve got to get you out of there,” the Dragon Rider insisted, nudging Toothless a little closer. “Come on, wake up.”

“Nah-uh, sleepin.”

“Okay, you can sleep, but just not there. How’s that sound? We can go back to the chamber where there are nice warm furs. It’ll be a lot better than sleeping there and in the way. You don’t want to be in the way do you?” Hiccup attempted to persuade the sleepy teenager.

“Mmm, not in the way,” Jackson denied through a yawn. “Snowy said I could sleep here.”

“And I’m sure Snowy… uh… who’s Snowy?” the Dragon Rider faltered, feeling a twinge of exasperation.

Reaching up with a hand, the brunet rubbed his eyes and awkwardly patted the dragon underneath him with the hand holding his staff. “Him.”

“You… but… the Bewilderbeast…”

“Bewilderbeast? Is that the name of your species?” Jackson asked, leaning over and looking down into the single opened blue eye.

Hiccup felt his heartrate spike for the second time in less than an hour upon noticing the alpha was awake and aware of the brunet on his head. The alpha’s second eye slowly opened and twin icy blue eyes rolled up in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the Druid. A chilly breath was aimed upwards, releasing a cloud of misty ice and effectively blowing the hood off Jackson’s head. Brown locks of hair were encased in frost which produced a laugh of delight from the teenaged brunet while encasing Hiccup’s heart in ice.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” the Druid confirmed, leaning back on his heels and looking up at Toothless hovering over the top of him. A sharp gasp from the dragon’s rider had Jackson’s eyes darting over to meet vivid green. “What, what’s wrong?”

“Your eyes.”

Cocking his head to the side, the teenager blinked a few times and endeavored to catch a glimpse of a reflection of his eyes in the crystal on his staff. The little crystal didn’t provide much help, other than giving him a headache as he looked at multiple refracting images. He didn’t see anything wrong with his eyes which would cause the Viking such worry.

“What about my eyes?” Jackson asked, glancing back up and blinking a few times in confusion.

Closing his mouth, Hiccup licked his lips as he watched the frost in the brunet’s hair fade away. “They…they were blue. Just like the Bewilderbeast’s eyes.”

“Really?” the Druid turned back to the clear crystal and held it every which way to get a passable reflection of his eyes. “I don’t see it.”

“They’re not blue anymore, but they were,” Hiccup shook his head, not sure how to explain what he had seen. For a split second, Jackson had frost covered hair and icy blue eyes. It was almost like the Druid was the human embodiment of the Bewilderbeast he was seated upon.

“Huh,” the brunet shrugged off, not at all concerned by the sudden change of eye color. Standing up, Jackson stretched out the kinks in his back and held up his staff in an invitation for Toothless. “I’m hungry. Let’s go get something to eat.”

The Night Fury didn’t wait for his rider’s permission and swooped down, grabbing hold of the crook and swinging the Druid up. Jackson tucked and rolled as Toothless sped up, doing a tight loop, and swooped underneath the brunet. The timing was perfect and the teenager landed in the saddle behind Hiccup, wrapping his staff around the Dragon Rider’s chest while waving at the Bewilderbeast with his free hand.

“Bye Snowy, I’ll see you later,” his attention was then directed towards Hiccup while his hand snaked around the young man and grabbed ahold of the gnarled piece of wood. “So, food?”

“You do know you’re incredible, right?” the Viking asked, shaking his head at the potential disaster averted. Not to mention, Jackson had apparently named the King of Dragons, _The Alpha_ , Snowy of all things.

“Of course I am, I’m _Jackson Overland_.”

The Dragon Rider smiled back at his Druid, before facing forward and directing Toothless towards the tunnel he’d located that would lead them right back to his mother’s chamber without any hassle. “Jackson… about earlier, I—”

“Uh-uh,” the brunet cut him off, shaking his head. “I’m furious with you. I will continue to be furious with you until you’ve done a lot of groveling to make it up to me. You can start by getting me something to eat. _Understand_?”

Hiccup couldn’t help himself and craned his head back, kissing Jackson squarely on the lips. Pulling away, he was pleased to see the red flush which covered the teenager’s face.

“Perfectly,” he grinned, “and I won’t quit until I’ve made everything up to you. Just so we’re clear.”

“Uh… yeah, we’re clear.”

“Good, now let’s go get you something to eat,” Hiccup smiled and shifted the gears of the tailfin. Toothless happily shot forward, wrapping his wings closer around his body as they soared through a narrow opening. Jackson’s grip on him tightened when they were plunged into complete darkness before they came out the other side. The Night Fury’s wings flared out, catching the winds and slowing them down to prevent them from running straight into the icy chamber’s wall.

Toothless glided in a downward spiral to the chamber’s floor where Gobber was busy chatting away about all the changes made to Berk as Stoick and Valka prepared skewers of fish.

“I’m telling you Valka, you’d never recognize it! Where we used to make weapons, we now build saddles, wing slings… we even fix dragon teeth! You wouldn’t believe how much everything’s changed!” the blacksmith swung his clubbed arm around wildly in the air before catching sight of the Night Fury and his riders. “Well, almost everything’s changed. You’re late, again, Hiccup.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the Viking waved Gobber off as he helped Jackson out of the saddle. Although, he didn’t release the Druid’s hand and instead used it to pull the brunet along with him over to his mother.

“Aye, your son’s changed Berk for the better. I think we did well with this one, Val,” Stoick agreed with his best friend as his wife picked up the tray filled with the skewered fish.

“Thanks, Dad,” Hiccup grinned, glancing over at the brunet standing a step behind him and off to the side, shifting from foot to foot.

Stoick knew his son well enough to know what his current intentions were and placed a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder to garner her attention. The comforting gesture had the opposite effect though and ended with Valka recoiling at the contact while the platter clattered noisily on the ground. Fish skewers scattered across the floor and Toothless sprung forward in order to assist in the cleanup. Cloudjumper wasn’t only closer but faster too and devoured the mess leaving not a single skewer for the Night Fury.

Toothless’s ear-plates drooped downwards as he let out a pitiful whimper, collapsing to the ground dejectedly. Guilt must have gotten to the Stormcutter, for the so far confrontational dragon coughed up a few of the fish for Toothless. The black dragon bolted upright, warbling in appreciation and downed the regurgitated fish gleefully.

“I’m, uh... a little out of practice,” the woman apologized for her clumsiness, reaching down to retrieve the fallen tray.

Stoick took the tray from her and handed it off to Gobber. “Well, y’know, I didn’t marry you for your cooking.”

“I hope not. Her meatballs could kill more beasts than a battle axe,” the blacksmith muttered under his breath—loud enough for both Hiccup and Jackson to hear—with a shutter, patting his belly as he hobbled over to Grump and sat down next to the dragon. “I’ve still got a few knockin around in here.”

“I could help,” Jackson volunteered after a second’s hesitation. When all eyes turned on him, the Druid shuffled closer to Hiccup, seeking comfort from the auburn-haired young man.

Glancing down at the brunet, Hiccup squeezed the teenager’s hand reassuringly before turning his attention back to his mother. “Jack, I’d like you to meet my mother. Mom, this is Jackson Overland of the Druid Clan Taliesin.”

“Um… nice to meet you,” Valka smiled awkwardly at him.

“Pleasure,” the brunet automatically answered with a slight grin. He intended to say more—this was Hiccup’s _mother_ after all and he felt the need to make a good impression—but the flickering light from the fire had his mouth snapping close. His skin lost all color as he finally realized why he had the overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. She wasn’t the same person she was when they had first met, but in the same sense, he wasn’t who he had been when they met. After all, their first meeting had taken place hundreds of years in the future between Jack Frost and the Disir of the Hairy Hooligans Tribe. Not as Jackson Overland and Valka Haddock.

Her very presence overwhelmed Jackson. Any words he had died on his lips. There were no words to communicate just how off-kilter the Druid felt in that instant. Never mind the fact no one would believe the woman before him would one day meet his past self in the far-off distant future. Jackson only snapped out of it when he felt Hiccup releasing his hand to follow his mother as she walked over to retrieve fresh fish from a basket in the corner.

The brunet must have missed some of the conversation, though; because he came back in the middle of the auburn-haired young man’s excited speech, “—and once you move back in, with all of your dragons, Drago won’t even stand a chance. Everything will be okay!”

“Slow down, son,” Stoick must have seen the same dazed looked Jackson saw on the woman's face because the redhead moved to intercept the animated Dragon Rider. Laying a hand upon his son’s shoulder, the chief drew Hiccup’s attention to him and away from Valka. Vivid green eyes glanced up with confusion shining brightly as the older man shook his head. Aged green eyes slowly slid over to the auburn-haired woman setting down the freshly plated fish due to trembling hands. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“Oh, gotcha,” Hiccup nodded and forced himself to calm down while his eyes followed his father’s gaze over towards his mother. Valka was in the process of filling a waterskin with water from a melting icicle. Yet even with her back turned away from them, the young man could see how weighed down the woman looked.

Jackson, for his part, needed to keep his hands busy at the revelation still reeling in his mind. Thoughts bombarded his every thought at the Disir’s—future Disir’s?—existence and he just wanted them to stop, or slow down at the very least. The mindless gutting and slicing of the fish to prepare new skewers to cook helped to clear his head, the thudding sound of the knife luring him into a relaxed state. The tapping sound was soon joined by a pleasant melody being whistled and amber eyes couldn’t help themselves from glancing up over to the source: Stoick.

“Oh, I love this one!” the blacksmith whispered, drawing the Druid’s attention to the man waving his hand in time with the tune. Looking back at the chief, Jackson watched as Stoick fumbled through the first verse of some kind of Viking love song.

“Remember our song, Val?” Stoick asked approaching the woman carefully and delicately retrieving the flask from trembling hands before it too could be dropped. Setting it to the side, large hands engulfed smaller ones in a loving embrace. “ _I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me_ ,” Stoick reached out to caress Valka’s cheek and no one missed the way she avoided his gaze, “ _No scorching sun, nor freezing cold will—"_

“— _will stop me on my journey!_ ” Gobber stood, bellowing out the next line but faltered upon catching sight of Stoick’s disapproving stare. “Uh…Sorry?”

The chief scowled at him before returning his attention to Valka, the next verse already on his lips. “ _If you will promise me your heart_...” Stoick paused bashfully glancing toward the woman with hope shining in his eyes. “ _And love_...”

The aging redhead hung on eagerly, waiting for Valka. She didn’t continue though. Instead, the woman closed her eyes and turned her head off to the side, a clear rejection. Jackson felt his heart go out to the chief, who bowed his head and let out a heavyhearted sigh. Before Stoick could move away, the soft—almost whispered—voice began singing.

“ _And love me for eternity_ ,” the redhead’s head jerked up with wide green eyes, catching sight of Valka brushing past him. She stopped a little way away and turned to face the chief, holding her forearm aloft in an invitation. Stoick staggered over to the auburn-haired woman and crossed his forearm against hers, beginning a beautiful dance. “ _My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I’ve no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me_.”

Setting the knife down, Jackson turned his whole body to watch the charming dance full of missteps as Stoick and Valka were drawn into each other, noticeably recreating a moment from their past. It was beautiful and a sense of tranquility washed over him listening to the lovely melody, sweeping away his earlier uneasiness.

Letting out a joyous burst of laughter, Stoick immediately picked up the next verse. “ _But I would bring you rings of gold. I’d even sing you poetry._ ”

“Oh, would you?” Valka interjected in a teasing tone that alluded to a past history only the two were aware of.

 _“And I would keep you from all harm if you’d stay here beside me._ ”

“ _I have no use for rings of gold. I care not for your poetry. I only want your hand to hold. I only want you near me._ ”

“Hey!” Jackson yelped out as he was suddenly pulled forward and into Hiccup’s chest. Looking up into shimmering vivid green eyes, the brunet blinked a few times.

Taking the staff still tucked between the teenager’s arm and body, the Dragon Rider leaned it up against the workbench and dragged the brunet clear of the area. “C’mon, Jack, dance with me.”

“What? No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know how.”

Hiccup smiled and held out his arm. “Then I’ll just have to teach you.”

“ _To love and kiss, to sweetly hold. For the dancing and the dreaming. Through all life’s sorrows and delights, I’ll keep your love inside me_. _I’ll swim and sail through savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me!_ ” Stoick and Valka sang the last part together while the out of tune blacksmith joined in a split second behind.

“ _I’m still going_...” Gobber carried on the last note while Toothless defenselessly pawed at his ear-plates trying desperately to drown out the man’s voice, whining the whole time. Finally, having enough, the Night Fury’s tail lashed out and struck the blond Viking in the side, effectively knocking the breath out of the man and cutting him off. “I’m done.”

Jackson glanced up into vivid green eyes with a sweet smile on his face. “Next time?”

“Next time,” Hiccup promised.

“Ah, I thought I’d have to die before we’d have that dance again,” the chief said, breathless with laughter still in his voice as he reached up to run a loving hand down the side of Valka’s face.

Grabbing his hand, Valka held on. “No need for drastic measures.”

“For you, my dear _anything_ ,” Stoick admitted as the love of his life smiled and his eyes welled up with tears. Going down on one knee, the Viking held her hand cupped between his two larger ones. “Will you come home, Val? Will you be my wife once again?”

Jackson saw the hesitation in her eyes and released Hiccup, discreetly kneeling down he whispered in the Night Fury’s ear-plate. Toothless, cocked his head to the side before looking at him and then over at the couple. Walking around them, the dragon nudged Valka forward, causing her to topple over into the chief’s awaiting arms. There was a stunned silence before she broke out laughing.

Looking over his shoulder, the Druid found Hiccup staring at him and grinned. The Dragon Rider smiled back and shook his head in disbelief.

“We can be a family!” Stoick announced reaching out and motioning for his son to come forward. Hiccup dutifully came, but not before hooking an arm around the smaller teenager’s upper arm and pulling Jackson along with him. The chief smiled at the action, ruffling the brunet’s hair and putting his arm around the Dragon Rider’s shoulder. “What do you say?”

Valka, between tears and laughter, turned to her son. “Yes.”

Gobber, having come up behind them, threw his arms around the bunch of them. “Great! Jackson’ll do the cooking!”

“Hey!” Jackson yelped at the implication, reaching over and trying to whack the blacksmith for volunteering him for such a task. The Haddock family laughed as the brunet’s protests only became louder.

Shaking his head at his best friend and the brunet’s antics, Stoick gave the Dragon Rider a grateful smile. “Thank Odin you didn’t listen to me, son. We never would have found each other.”

“I’m—,” Hiccup started to say only to feel the Druid beside him tense up. Turning to face Jackson, the young man found the brunet with his head cocked to the side as if he was listening. Behind him, vivid green eyes caught sight of the Druid’s staff, the crystal hanging from it glowing softly. Abruptly, Toothless and Cloudjumper tensed as well. “Jackson? Toothless?”

Screeches and roars from inside the sanctuary had the Vikings looking towards the large tunnel leading to the main chamber where the dragons were swarming past due to an unknown disturbance.

“What’s happening?” the Dragon Rider asked, not expecting to receive an answer.

“They’re coming,” Jackson whispered, gaining the attention of everyone present. Before anyone could question him, the Druid turned on his heels and made a beeline for one of the smaller tunnels, grabbing his staff along the way. Hiccup made to go after him, but the whole mountain shook as a boom echoed from above. A second later, two more eruptions shook the whole area and Valka made a mad dash in the opposite direction the brunet had gone off in.

Hiccup was torn between running after Jackson and following his mother. When the mountain shook again, the choice was made for him as he chased after his father who was two steps ahead of him and Gobber four steps behind. His choice was proven correct when Hiccup was forced to grab hold of Stoick to yank him out of the way of a giant piece of falling debris that came a hair’s breadth away from crushing the chief before they were once again chasing after the disappearing figure just out of sight.

The two Haddock men and Gobber finally caught up to Valka when they cleared the mountain and found themselves on an icy ledge hundreds of feet above the ocean. Below them, an armada surrounded the sanctuary with forces by the thousands already landed upon the beach. Catapults and ballistas were being placed into position on the icy shore, the few already secured were firing at the icy spires and damaging the dome in an effort to gain entrance.

“Oh, no,” Hiccup gasped as another boulder shook the very foundation.

Valka turned, anger and determination clear in her eyes, and pushed past the gathered Vikings. She didn’t get far. Stoick wouldn’t let her go and reached out, grabbing hold of her arm. He gently pulled the woman around and looked her in the eye.

“Val! It’s all right, it’s all right,” he endeavored to calm her to prevent her from making any rash decisions. “We’re a team now. What do you want to do?”

Stunned by the proclamation, Valka glanced from Stoick to Hiccup seeing the young man looked just as determined as she felt. “We have to save the dragons.”

“Aye. You got it!” the chief agreed, gesturing for Valka to take the lead. The woman gave him a strained smile and hurried back the way they had come. Throwing an arm his son’s shoulder, Stoick led them after the warrior with Gobber once again bringing up the rear. “Come on, son. You heard your mother, we have to save the dragons.”

Hiccup gritted his teeth as they hurried after his mother with a resolved expression on his face. “I have a feeling Jackson is doing just that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI: I might be late with updating the story in the next few weeks. My computer's given me the blue screen of death a few times and I'm having to send it off to get repaired. They say it shouldn't be more than two to three weeks, but I don't trust them. Sorry if that is the case, I will trying to find other means to post but I'm not promising anything.
> 
> Have a Happy New Years!


	12. Declaration of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn't feel as refined to me as my other chapters because I'm in a rush to get it down on a computer that's not my own which I only have for a limited amount of time. But look, I got the chapter out on schedule without having my own computer, go me!
> 
> Jazebeth (Barrattiel): You know, I have no idea what the error message was before the PC BSODed. Actually, scratch that, I remember something about the fan and me thinking, what's wrong with the fan? I hear it running and than, bam! Blue Screen.
> 
> MugenYumeDansu: Jackson can't actually understand what dragons are saying, but he tries, so he doesn't know the Bewilderbeast's actual name. He just picked a name that went well with an ice-type dragon (and the author picked Snowy as a name because according to HTTYD Wiki, Drago's Bewilderbeast was dubbed Muddy. Snowy v. Muddy seems ironic to me.)
> 
> In all fairness, I'm sorry in advance for the cliffhanger.

Brightly colored dragons descended from the icy spirals high up near the mountain’s peak, assaulting the trespassers attacking their home.  The catapults and ballistas were their first target. The massive constructs made for easy marks but there were more than just weapons on the battlefield.  Drago’s army utilized a number of traps designed specifically to deal with the Creatures of Fire.  Dragons fell from the skies, either tangled in bolas or weighed down by nets, and hit the ground hard, taking out some of Drago’s men as they slid across the icy shores.

A second wave of dragons burst forth from the mountain, aiding their fallen packmates.  They were met by aged-armored wearing dragons in the skies which resulted in another clash.  Below them soldiers poured into the tunnels while others in Drago’s army prepared the next line of assault, cranking open metal dome traps and reloading the catapults still functioning.  When the first set of iron jaws exposed a screeching dragon tied down within, one of the sanctuary’s residence immediately swooped down to rescue its bound kin. A deafening snap swallowed both dragons once the trap was triggered.

With the purple Deadly Nadder caught, the group of Drago’s men manning the dome traps started work on another.  Paying the battle going on at the frontlines little heed, none of the soldiers took notice of the dome trap next to them as it began emitting a green gas.  Only one would survive the explosion long enough to witness the Hideous Zippleback hurtling out from inside of the smoldering remains of twisted metal.  He would later succumb to death from his wounds, haunted by the memory of the war cries of the fearless blond twins on the dragon’s back.

“Surprise!” Tuffnut shouted, drawing the attention of many of the soldiers away from the battle.  It was their mistake as multiple other traps burst opened. The Zippleback riders were soon joined in the air by various other dragons.  “Hell Yeah!”

Stormfly squawked and buckled as Eret hung on to one of the dragon’s spines for dear life. The Deadly Nadder didn’t seem to notice her reluctant passenger’s fear as she flew into the fray, searching for her rider.  It didn’t take the Tracker-class dragon long to locate Astrid currently riding Meatlug. Eret let out a startled yelp when she put on a burst of speed to catch up with the Gronckle.  Stormfly merely chirped to gain her rider’s attention.  The shieldmaiden, upon seeing the trapper clinging for dear life to the saddle, raised a delicate eyebrow and Eret gave her a sheepish shrug.

“You really are full of surprises,” Astrid gave the man a coy smile.

“What can I say? I have a way with women. It apparently transcends to female dragons too,” the Dragon Trapper shot back with his most charming smile. The blush which crossed the blonde woman’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Eret. Or Fishlegs.

“Enough flirting, can I have my dragon back?” the heavyset Viking questioned, coming up on the opposite side of the Gronckle—who perked up and began panting happily upon seeing her rider—riding a young Scauldron.

“We’re not flirting!” Astrid snapped, looking down to obscure the red flush blossoming across her face.  Using the gesture to situate herself, the blonde shieldmaiden drew her feet up on to the saddle and settled into a crouch before leaping across the distance to land on Stormfly’s back. Her arms wrapped around Eret to not only steady herself but also prevent throwing the Deadly Nadder off balance as well. “Let’s go!”

Shaking his head, Fishlegs brought his foot around to dangle over one side and signaled to the Gronckle.  Meatlug rumbled, moving underneath the Scauldron and the heavyset Viking slipped off the Tital-class dragon, landing perfectly on the Boulder-class dragon.

“Dragon Riders coming through!” Tuffnut shouted as he swooped by startling the young Scauldron yet Meatlug kept the blue dragon under control with a swat of her tail.  Together, the two of them dive-bombed the troops in a spray of lava and boiling water. Heather on Windshear came in behind them, creating a barrier of spines to prevent the soldiers from entering the tunnels to the mountain.

Hookfang in came from the side, setting the wooden traps aflame and burning a large portion of the ice sending soldiers scrambling for purchase or fall in and risk drowning.  Barf took care of the rest of the metal domes, covering them with gas while Stormfly came in from the opposite direction to light the gas, creating a spectacular explosion of magnesium. With the traps broken and the leathers and ropes binding the captured dragons burning away, the newly freed dragons flew up to join the fray. The yokes and leather bindings restraining the bait dragons were also incinerated, freeing them as well.

“ _Cut Them Down!_ ” a roar pierced the air and projectiles from the longboats began targeting the Dragon Riders.

The number of nets and bolas was staggering and nearly impossible to dodge them all.  One of the bolas came close to tangling around Belch’s neck yet he ducked out of the way.  Not far enough for the projectile to miss Ruffnut completely and she was thrown off the Hideous Zippleback. The startled blonde Viking screamed in pain as she plummeted by Stormfly and toward the rocky shore below.

“Eret, son of Eret!” Ruffnut shout, reaching for the Dragon Trapper on the Deadly Nadder’s back. 

Eret turned at the sound of his name and spotted the blonde Viking falling to her death. He didn’t get the chance to react when out of nowhere a Scauldron caught Ruffnut on his wing. The blonde Viking rolled down the Tidal-class dragon’s wing to land in Fishlegs’s arms, much to the Gronckle rider’s surprised.  His surprise turned to shock when the Zippleback rider grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him forward in a kiss.

Shaking his head, the Dragon Trapper snapped back to his own predicament as Astrid’s voice yell in his ear. “Up, girl! Lean left, Eret! That’s it!”

“I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Eret shouted over his shoulder. 

“Look out!” the shieldmaiden cried out, causing the dark-haired man’s head to snap forward in time to witness the falling remains of an icy spiral coming down on top of them.  He attempted to direct Stormfly out of the way, but the spiral was too large to completely avoid. They were going to die.

The massive piece of ice nearly crushed the Deadly Nadder and her riders if it weren’t for the blast of plasma which engulfed in a ball of flame and blew it to bits and pieces.

From within the flame, three new dragons came out of the mountain and joined the fight.  The telltale whine screeched across the area as Toothless came in low and fast, blowing to bits one of the net launchers and knocking another one on its side.  Stoick followed behind chopping the trigger lines of the next few launchers in the line, firing the nets through the throng of soldiers instead of at the dragons.

Their attack wasn’t without repercussions. Drago’s archers ran forward, forming a line, and took aim at Skullcrusher.  Their formation was rather unfortunate though seeing how Grump came in from behind and knocked the archers down with his clubbed tail.

“Heads up!” Gobber couldn’t help himself as he knocked the last of the men down.

“ _Dragon Master_ ,” Drago gridded out as another high-pitched screech drew his eyes to the Night Fury streaking across the sky and blowing up another of his traps, releasing more dragons.

Arcing back around, Hiccup grinned when he spotted Eret on the back of Stormfly with Astrid. Shifting his weight, Toothless looked up and the young man gestured his head to the Deadly Nadder.  Acid green eyes followed the gesture and sped up to catch up to Stormfly.  His rider folded up the hand levers and pulled himself to sit upright in the saddle.

“Welcome aboard, Dragon Rider!” Hiccup greeted, having to pull up the mask portion of the helmet up to keep his voice from being muffled.  The two riders on Stormfly turned to look at him incredulously. Astrid’s face broke into a huge smile of relief upon seeing the chief’s son alive and well.

“Thanks. I think,” Eret called back, only glancing at him shortly before looking back down at his hands clinging to the saddle and shaking for dear life which had the Deadly Nadder weaving to the left slight at the mix signals. The shieldmaiden did as much as she could to correct Stormfly from her place behind the trapper; however, she was too busy glaring at Hiccup to be much of help to Eret.

“Where have you been?” Astrid grilled the young man, her annoyance winning over her relief at finding him alive.

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Oh, y’know, catching up with Mom.”

Blue eyes shot the Night Fury rider a confused look before she took notice of vivid green eyes glancing upwards and tilted her head back.  Twin gasps escaped the two riders on Stormfly’s back as Cloudjumper rose above the ice spikes with Valka standing on his back, once again wearing her dragon warrior armor.  She held her staff high. Signaling a new wave of dragons to fly from various spikes and easily overwhelming the attacking armored dragons in the air.

“Whoa,” Eret gulped, his whole-body trembling which had nothing to do with riding a dragon.

“That’s your mother?!” the shieldmaiden shouted, watching as the vividly colored dragons pushed back Drago’s dragon army.

Hiccup’s grin widened at the astonished looks on both their face. “Well, now you know where I get my dramatic flair.”

“Wait! Where’s Jackson?” Astrid demanded, blue eyes darting to the empty space behind the Night Fury rider to the multiple dragons flying around in the sky for any sign of the brunet.

An earth-trembling roar rent the air as tusks pierce through the ice spiral and shifted, creating a hole large enough to let a _massive_ dragon through. The Bewilderbeast rose up behind Cloudjumper, yet among the white and red tipped spikes a spot of blue shown out like a beacon to all those who knew him. For there was Jackson, crouched down on the top of the dragon’s head, one hand resting on the Bewilderbeast’s head while the other held his ever-present staff.

“He found himself a _dragon_?” the shieldmaiden gapped.

“A very big dragon,” Eret numbly nodded, not able to tear his eyes away from the Bewilderbeast.

“More like, the dragon found himself a Druid,” Hiccup shrugged, flipping his mask plate down and Toothless veered off to rejoin the battle.  Although, he did keep an eye on Jackson, watching the brunet waved his staff.  The motion coincided with a gust of wind that sent the falling ice chunks outwards, colliding with a number of armored dragons.  Hiccup was not at all surprised when not a single one of the sanctuary dragons was hit.  In fact, none of the dragons struck were hurt, just knocked unconscious and taken out of the fight, a testament to Jackson’s Druid principle of not taking a life.

The Bewilderbeast let out another earth-trembling roar and spit out a gush of water which became ice shards upon impact.  The soldiers on the ground were forced to run for their lives or face being frozen alive.  Some of them weren’t lucky and ended up in the direct line of the spray while others barely escaped with a limb or two encased in ice.  Their leader seemed not to care for those lives lost, gawking in awe as the great white dragon blasted away at his army in an epic explosion of ice.

“The alpha,” Drago grinned despite the chaos around him. “Now we have a fight!

Valka waited for a beat—letting the ice settle—before swinging her staff above her head before directing it down to the battlefield below.  The dragons in the air, having taken care of the majority of the armored dragons, blasted passed Cloudjumper, swooping down and attacking Drago’s human army. A swarm of Hideous Zipplebacks tucked and rolled themselves into a ball, biting their tails and releasing green gas as they went. A spark ignited the gas and flames engulfed the dragons. 

Surrounded by flames, the dragons created a fiery wheel and barreled through the battlefield. Scattering soldiers and leaving destroyed war machines in their wake. One of the Hideous Zipplebacks was unfortunate enough to get trapped under an apparatus which looked like a trebuchet with a metal latticework at the end. The trapped effectively pinned the dragon to the ground when it was triggered.

“There! Come on, Toothless! Show them what you got, Bud,” Hiccup caught sight of the trap Zippleback and Toothless doubled-back around to rescue the injured dragon. The Night Fury roared, dive-bombing the trap and destroyed it with a plasma blast, freeing the other dragon. “Atta boy!”

His triumphant feeling quickly dissipated when he saw a net suddenly wrap around Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter and his mother plummeted to the ground causing the young man’s stomach to jump into his throat.  A heavy breath escaping him when he saw Valka cut herself free, sliding to a stop just paces away from what had to be the leader of the army: Drago Bludvist.

“I’ve waited a long time for this!” Drago chuckled ruthlessly and brought his bullhook down on the dragon warrior.

Valka easily deflected the attack with her staff and pushed the weapon aside, creating an opening for a counterattack. “You cannot take our dragons! They are controlled by the alpha!”

The man artfully parried the staff blows with his bullhook, yet he couldn’t block the kick sent straight at his left side.  Drago was sent stumbling back by the unexpected blow but he wasn’t deterred. In fact, he had a smug smirk on his face which kept had Valka relenting in her assault.

“Then it’s a good thing I brought a challenger,” he smugly replied and held up his bullhook. Not to attack Valka this time.  No, he began to whirl the weapon above his head, screaming savagely and turned away from the dragon warrior and towards his flagship.

The water started to swell and boats were pushed out of the way as something big began to emerge. Heavy chains that attached the flagship to iron cuffs fell away from the creature breaking the surface in an epic cascade of seawater. When the water fell away, the sea dweller below was revealed to be a second Bewilderbeast. 

“Another one?” Hiccup was horrified, especially at the sight of this new Bewilderbeast. Unlike the one Jackson named Snowy, this one was larger, darker almost muddy like in appearance.  The eyes had only a sliver of blue surrounded by blood red.

Not far away, Fishlegs was gawking at the new muscular dragon in fright. “I was way off! That is a Class Ten! _CLASS TEN!_ ”

“No… No…” Valka shook her head in denial as the challenger lumbered onto the beach, his sole focus on the white Bewilderbeast and thus Jackson as well. 

“Come on! Take down the alpha!” Drago urged his enslaved dragon, his back still to Valka who he no longer considered a threat. 

The dragon warrior used that to her advantage and attacked the man with her staff in a last ditch attempt to prevent him from commanding the massive grey dragon.  The staff made contact but Drago absorbed the blow and returned the attack with excess force, throwing the smaller warrior back. She landed hard on the ground, sprawled out due to the wind being knocked out of her and her weapon sliding out of reach which Drago used to his advantage.

Stalking over to Valka, he pinned her down with a boat to the chest and used the end of his bullhook to remove the dragon warrior’s mask to look into panicked light green eyes. Grinning maniacally, Drago raised his bullhook fully intending to slam it into her skull when he was thrown to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, the dark-skinned man growled upon seeing Stoick the Vast helping Valka to her feet.

“Thank you,” the woman smiled.

“For you, my dear, anything,” the chief replied letting go of her hand and swinging the axe in his other hand around before gripping it with both hands. Facing Drago, Stoick kept an eye on the man, allowing him to gather his fallen weapon. The two circled each other and the bellowing of Bewilderbeasts drew the attention of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe’s chief towards the dragons before green eyes looked to Valka. “Val, do you think you can stop them?”

“I’ll do my best!” Valka nodded and ran to free Stormcutter, cutting the nets away and climbing on the dragon’s back. “Come on, Cloudjumper!”

No sooner had the dragon warrior left then Drago lunged at Stoick, swiping his bullhook at the chief and was met with a clang when it met with an axe. “You... I watched you burn!”

“It takes more than a little fire to kill me!” Stoick grunted as the two imposing warriors pushed away from one another.

Their weapons slashing at each other as punches were thrown.  Drago managed to use his bullhook to catch the axe at the junction between the metal and the wood, yanking it out of the aging redhead’s hands. The chief was forced back as he dodged a few wild swings from the weapon only to be rammed into the ground.  He quickly pushed himself to his knees, trying to regain his feet when a familiar Boulder-class dragon flew mere feet in front of him.

“Stoick!” Gobber’s shout was all the warning he had as the blacksmith hurled his mace prosthetic to the Viking.  He caught it with both hands, transferring the weight into his right palm, and whirled around.  The mace connected squarely with Drago’s head, sending the man sprawling to the ground.  His attention was drawn away from the man as the land beneath his feet shook and a final death call rang out, joined by the shouts of his son.

“ _Jackson!_ ”

Stoick spun around to find the massive white dragon the brunet was riding laying halfway under an avalanche of snow with Drago’s enslaved dragon standing victoriously over the top.  He saw Toothless head straight for the downed dragon but was kept at bay by ice hurtling towards him.  Hiccup wasn’t deterred though and tried to go around yet another barrage of ice created a wall keeping the Night Fury at bay at every attempt.

“We’ve won,” Drago chuckled, gleefully from behind the chief.   The truth of his words was soon realized as the surviving Bewilderbeast let out a bellowing roar.  Dragons everywhere began to land and moved to surround Drago’s challenger bowing their head to acknowledge the new alpha.  A few resisted but they belonged to the Dragon Riders and had never acknowledged Snowy as their alpha.  The madman then pointed his bullhook toward Valka and Cloudjumper. “Now finish her!”

“No!” the chief shouted, whirling around to frantically seek out Valka and Cloudjumper. 

He wasn’t the only one with them in their sights.  The Bewilderbeast desist in preventing Hiccup and Toothless from passing and instead tracked the movements of the dragon warrior and her dragon. Inhaling a large breath, the new alpha blasted the Stormcutter.  Cloudjumper veered out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Ice encased his tail, weighing him down while sending the two spiraling out of control toward the icy spires.

“Hold on!” Stoick shouted, scooping up his axe with his free hand and threw the mace back to Gobber as he ran pass on his way to Skullcrusher.  Leaping on to the dragon’s back, he spurred him into the air. “Skullcrusher, go! Come on, Gobber!”

“Right behind ya, Stoick!” the blacksmith followed brazenly, fumbling to attach the prosthetic while Grump fought to keep up with the Tracker-class dragon.

With his tail impaired, Cloudjumper struggled against a throng of oncoming dragons. Already unbalanced by the unstable flight, Valka couldn’t hang on when one of the dragon’s slammed into the Stormcutter.  She lost her grip and fell.  Skullcrusher wasn’t close enough to reach the falling woman, yet Stoick still leaped towards his falling wife and by some miracle, he was able to catch Valka. He sank his axe into an icy column, grunting in pain as his shoulder was wrenched under their combined weight as they slid down to land on an edge.

Valka almost stumbled off the steep drop off, but the chief was quick to pull her back in.  However, they weren’t out of harm’s way yet. The Bewilderbeast was still out there, sniffing around and searching for them.  Stoick moved them into an alcove to hide from the dragon seeking to end the life of his wife.

Seeing the Bewilderbeast hunting for his parents, Hiccup was torn as the Night Fury flew around the snow and iced covered corpse of Snowy. Growling, the Dragon Rider pulled Toothless away from their search and headed for Drago who was commanding his enslaved dragon to finish the job.

“ ** _STOP!_** ” the chief’s son roared as Toothless came in hard and fast, landing a few paces from the dark-skinned man. “ _Stop!_ ”

Hiccup threw himself off of the growling Night Fury. Brazenly, the young man removed his helmet and throw it to the side, giving Drago his first good look at the Dragon Rider.  As he moved closer, the young man didn’t expect the tall man to begin chuckling and he had to clench his hands into fists to keep from lashing out.

“This... is the great Dragon Master?” the man’s chuckles increased into laughter, his actions had Toothless’s growl raising and a telltale whine building up.  Yet, Hiccup held out his hand to stop the dragon, keeping him from attacking. “The son of Stoick the Vast? What shame he must feel.”

“All of this loss… and for what?” the chief’s son didn’t react to the jeer directed at him and instead, gestured to the scarred battlefield around him.  His anger at the senseless fighting and his worry for Jackson bleeding together. “To become unstoppable? To rule the world? Dragons, they-they are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together.”

The hideous sneer which Hiccup received had nothing on—what he believed to be an armor-plated—left arm being detached. “Or tear them apart.”  The young man recoiled at the stump as Drago laughed mockingly, reattaching the prosthetic and began stalking around the young man. “You see, I know what it is to live in fear. To see my village burned, my family taken. But even as a boy, left with nothing, I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world.”

“Then why a dragon army?” the Dragon Rider snapped as Drago stalked away from him to grab the bullhook he had left shoved in the snow.

The man turned half way to face Hiccup with a smug smile on his face. “Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons.”

“Or maybe you need dragons to conquer people. To control those who follow you,” the young man countered his eyes narrowing as he noticed the beginning signs of laughter building up in Drago, “and to get rid of those who won’t.”

“Clever boy.”

“The world wants peace, and we have the answer, back on Berk,” Hiccup made one last attempt to reach a peaceful resolution, however, he found himself backing away from the man while he moved closer.  Behind him, he could hear Toothless growling and pawing at the ground, preparing himself to attack despite his rider’s wishes. “Just… let me show you—”

“ _No!_ Let _Me_ Show _You_ ,” Drago interrupted, throwing his head back and shrieking madly, swinging his bullhook over his head. 

The Bewilderbeast was on the verge of blasting the whole area where Stoick and Valka were hidden when he heard the distant wails.  Obediently, the dragon creased all actions and came to the call.  The alpha leaving allowed the two hidden within the alcove to peak out, witnessing their son slowly backing away from Drago with Toothless at his back. Immediately, the two parents ran down from the mountain—passing Gobber along the way—towards their son.

“No dragon can resist the alpha’s command. So he who controls the alpha, controls them all,” Drago explained to the young man as his enslaved Bewilderbeast came to a halt a hundred or so feet away. The dragon looked from the bullhook pointed in the hand of his jailor to where it was directed straight at Toothless. The Bewilderbeast stared and then it—for lack of a better word—hissed.

“Toothless?” Hiccup questioned as the dragon began to shake his head at the sound.

Well, to human it sounded like a hiss; however, to the dragons, it was a hypnotic ultrasonic broadcast which was directed solely at the Night Fury. Toothless struggled against the alpha’s command, writhing and grinding his head against the ground as he fought against the hypnotic pull. He tried to drown out the sound through roars which soon turned from growls to squeals and pain filled whimpers at his unsuccessful attempt.

“T—Toothless? You okay, Bud? What’s going on?” the Night Fury rider tried again only for Drago’s dark chuckles to gain his attention.

“Witness true strength. The strength of will over others,” the power-hungry man grinned when the Bewilderbeast’s mesmerizing glare and a low, throaty grumble had the Night Fury succumbing to his control. Drago noticed the vacant stare in the acid green eyes, pupils mere slits which had his bullhook sliding from the black dragon towards Hiccup. “In the face of it, you are nothing.”

Slowly, the Night Fury turned his head to face the young auburn haired man and began advancing.

“Uh… what did he just tell you?” Hiccup asked noticing the change in behavior and his rigid movement. He found himself taking step after step backward into the remains of an icy spiral behind him while the black dragon stalked forward, teeth bared.  “Toothless, come on. What’s the matter with you? No, no, no, no, come on, what’re you doing?”

Hiccup finally came to a stop when his foot bumped into a rock and glanced back to see only a wall of ice behind him. He had nowhere to run and the Night Fury was still creeping up on him, mouth opening as light began to seep from his throat.

“Knock it off!” the Dragon Rider desperately tried to get the dragon to come to his senses. “ _Stop!_ Snap out of it! Toothless! _No!_ Toothless! Don’t!”

“ _Hiccup!!_ ” Stoick’s voice echoed out as vivid green eyes snapped up to see his father running flat out towards them.

“ _STOP!_ ” the young man screamed, throwing up his hands, unsure if he was addressing the Night Fury or his father.

“ _SON **!**_ ”

“ _DAD! **NO!**_ ”


	13. Snow Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay there was some problems with my computer. The good news: it was fixed and it was the hard drive which was malfunctioning causing various other problems and weird diagnostics. The bad news: it never arrived despite it saying it was delivered and I've been fighting with various call centers trying to figure out where it is. 
> 
> A side note, thanks to everyone who offered advise on my computer. I shall keep it in mind for future reference (if I ever see my computer again TT.TT). 
> 
> gingerninja88: I'm so jealous you've already seen HTTYD3, I have to wait until after it comes out on the 22nd. For anyone who has seen it, please no spoilers in the comments, but still jealous of all you out there.

Groans echoed as he pushed himself upright causing a number of pieces of ice to fall from his body. His head was pounding and his memories were a jumbled mess of quicksilver images. He remembered the clashing of tusks as he struggled to stay on top of Snowy’s head. Jackson strove to put a stop to the mindless fight yet there was a darkness radiating from the grey Bewilderbeast. He’d woven spell after spell to break the hold Drago had on the younger dragon.

It wasn’t sorcery binding the creature though. There was no magic intertwined with the dragon’s own, for the beast was tainted to the core. The very feel of it had shivers racing down Jackson’s spine. Darkness stemmed from fear and rage, from human cruelty polluted the tainted dragon and the brief recollection of another dragon flashed through the Druid’s mind. The fabled white Great Dragon which chose the side of Morgana over Merlin’s during the final battle was almost a copy of the muddy Bewilderbeast. This dragon wasn’t a thrall to Drago through magic but the Creature of Magic was still enslaved through misguided loyalty to the only parent it knew.

Jackson wanted to weep at the discovery but there was no time. Not with Cloudjumper flying between the two battling Bewilderbeasts as Valka endeavored to put a crease to their fighting as well with a flourish of her staff. Unlike him, she didn’t realize what a futile effort it was. The enslaved beast wouldn’t stop until either Snowy or he was dead. Jackson tried to warn her off, to get her out of the way, but she must not have heard him and almost ended up skewered by Drago’s slave. Thankfully, between the Stormcutter’s reactions, Snowy’s counter attack, and a heavy gust from winds on his behalf, Hiccup’s mother was pulled out of the danger zone.

Their divided attention came at a cost. While both the Druid and Bewilderbeast’s concentration had been diverted into getting Valka to safety, Snowy was backed into the mountain. Their new position allowed no room for maneuverability, leaving the white dragon vulnerable. Snowy was forced to rear up on his hind legs to prevent the next attack from hitting him head on.

It proved to be a fatal mistake, exposing his chest to the dull dragon who plunged his tusks into the softer underbelly and rammed the impaled Bewilderbeast into the mountain. Jackson was already casting, creating a shield between them and the beast but the Creature of Magic’s tusk easily shattered his feeble protective spell, the backlash almost knocked him from Snowy’s head as an avalanche of ice and snow came crashing down around them.

“No,” the brunet denied as the memories came rushing back.

Weakly he pushed himself up on shaky feet. His hand immediately found his staff and took it with him as amber eyes glanced up at the slab of ice sloped over his head. He could see a bit of light pouring through a few gaps where the end of the slab dug into the ground which he might be able to wriggle his way out of but it was the opposite end of the ice which held his attention. For keeping the ice from falling down and crushing him was Snowy. The Bewilderbeast was laying on his side while the spines on his side and shoulder blades held the thick slab of ice up.

“Snowy!” Jackson shouted scrambling over to the unmoving dragon’s side.

Tentatively he reached out and rested his hand against the white dragon’s jaw. A choked sob escaped his lips as a pained filled blue eye slide open. A low rattle came out from the Bewilderbeast’s throat as the dragon took in a shallow breath. The Druid knew the dragon was on the edge of the balance of Life and Death, tipping further away from life side of the equation with each shallow ragged breath and there was nothing to be done.

That was not about to stop him though.

Jackson reached far within himself, not caring if others might see it as hopeless, and yanked at the magic flowing through his veins.  A pain gasp of his own flew from his lips as he gathered up all he could spare—and maybe a bit he couldn’t, if he was honest with himself—and envisioned what he wanted. He knew no spell which would achieve his aim and the few healing spells the Druid did know, he’d never been able to master. But Jackson had something not many had: belief.

Without another thought, Jackson thrusted his hands onto the dragon and forced his magic into the Bewilderbeast. “ _In sibbe gereste._ ”

Snowy’s breathing hitched before one last icy breath engulfed the brunet and the Bewilderbeast’s body lost all tension, becoming lax.

“No,” the Druid denied, forcing even more raw magic into the dragon. He could feel his hands heating up, burning at the sheer intensity but he didn’t stop. Jackson wouldn’t stop.

A surge of winter shot through the brunet’s hands, forcing him backwards and breaking the flow of magic. The iciness seeped under his skin, soothing the burning sensation in his hands while working its way into the teenager’s veins, flowing through his whole body. Jackson staggered under the backlash of power filling his body to the brim and fighting to break free from his fragile control. Eyes bled icy blue while frost spread from his scalp to the tip of his hair and the cloth wrapped around his staff iced over at Jackson’s mere touch as the essence of pure winter sought a release.

“ ** _STOP!_** ” Hiccup’s distressed voice abruptly penetrated through the buzz of overwhelming power bringing Jackson back to himself. The blue in his eyes dissolved as the frost in his hair melted away as if it had never been there. The only indication something transpired was the thin layer of ice left behind on his staff.

“Hiccup,” the Druid whispered, feeling something inside him shift and amber eyes darted towards the small opening. He didn’t think, just ran towards the gap, squeezing his way out.

Jackson paused when his ears were assaulted with an irritating ultrasonic sound compelling him to listen, to obey. A harsh hiss of unknown words passed his lips and the sound dissolved. It wasn’t gone, the brunet vaguely realized, it was still there but the sound was being filtered. Whatever spell had left his lips kept the sound at bay.

Without the annoying ringing to bother him, Jackson searched Toothless out. Immediately he noticed something wrong with the Night Fury when his eyes found him. The dragon’s movements were all stiff and mechanical. Moreover, the black dragon was stalking Hiccup as if the Viking were prey. Something the normally jubilant and loyal dragon would never consider.

Flinging out his staff, winter—for the first time in years—rushed to comply with his wishes, freezing patches of water into a slick track of ice. Running, Jackson grabbed hold of a nearby piece of wooden debris and jumped, shoving the length of wood under his boots. He landed on the ice, skidding down the slope still being created before his eyes. The winds whipped from behind him, pushing him faster than the speed gravity’s pull provided.

Amber eyes caught sight of Stoick running towards Hiccup as well and gritted his teeth. Wrenching the Gronckle Iron shield from his back, Jackson secured it to his arm and activated a latch. The shield sprang open, transforming to a crossbow. He pulled the string back and a bolt of ice formed in the notch. Jackson didn’t need to aim, already knowing the arrow would embed itself in the leg of one of the soldier’s coming up behind the chief. The bolt flew true and took Drago’s man down as Stoick flung his axe and cut down a rope holding up a mast from one of the overturned beached ships.

Stoick used the newly fallen mast as a bridge to cross the scattered debris of the trap while running up the ice boulders the large wooden log now rested upon. Jackson, on the other hand, took the lower road and weaved his way around the chunks of ice. The chief hurled himself off the top of the icy boulder and landed away from Hiccup. There wasn’t enough time, the high-pitched whine of plasma was almost at its peak.

The Druid was too far away though. An idea had him holding up his shield and triggering a second mechanism. The hub in the middle sprang open and a line shot out. The grappling hook at the end embedded itself into ice.

Jackson yanked as hard as he could.

Stoick threw himself over his son, using his body as a shield.

The Night Fury discharged the building plasma blast.

Both Haddocks were thrown against chunks of ice with tremendous force. The young Viking felt the air in his lungs forcefully escaped when his father’s weight pressed down onto him.   Ice rained around them as pieces from above came crumbling down due to the intense impact. The ringing in Hiccup’s ears increased when Stoick’s bulk further pressed down upon his own when the man went lax under the ice crushing him from above.

“ _Dad!_ ” the auburn-haired man shouted, struggling to support the chief’s deadweight and crumpling under the pressure.

The weight lessened and Hiccup found himself supporting his father with one hand while pushing the pieces of ice surrounding them off with his free hand. A shout of his father’s name accompanied the sudden disappearance of the slab covering them let him know there were others digging them out. Valka’s winded and aghast voice shouted from above when the last piece of debris was removed. Together, the two managed to roll Stoick onto his back and off of Hiccup.

“ _Stoick!_ ”

Drago glanced back, watching the woman press her ear to Stoick’s heart as his son kneeled at his side. A satisfied smirk spread a crossed his face at the sudden turn of events. He meant to kill the son, but this outcome was even better. The one who gotten away couldn’t escape him for a second time and it was the boy’s own Night Fury which dealt the final blow. Drago couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried. With a grin full of satisfaction, the leader of the dragon army shuffled off. Not bothering to stay around long enough to witness Valka’s head whipping up as she looked down at the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe with wide, tearful eyes.

Hiccup, on the other hand, couldn’t look away and saw when the expression of disbelief and hope crossed his mother’s face. Before he could get his mouth to function and form any words, Stoick sucked in a ragged breath of air. Coughing violently, eyelids fluttered open.

“Hi—ic…c—up,” the man fought to speak. Shakily, a hand reached up to cupped the young man’s face to reassure himself his son was alright.

“ _Dad!_ ” Hiccup choked out, his fear and utter relief coming out all within that one word.

“I—I—I’m… h-here… so—n,” Stoick huffed out, his voice weak but not as shaky.

His arm fell—no longer having the strength to hold it up—but Valka quickly caught it between her two smaller hands, kissing his knuckles in relief. “You’re alive, oh thank Odin, you’re alive. Don’t you do that again, not now, not ever.”

“Pro—mised… l—ove… etern—ity.”

“ _Stoick_ ,” the woman sobbed in relief, crumpling on top of her husband.

Hiccup let out a slow breath of air and sat back on his heels, giving his parents some room. Shifting his weight, his prosthetic caught hold of something and he glanced back briefly to see what it was. Vivid green eyes found a length of rope tangled in the metal appendage and when he reached back to free himself, he inadvertently tugged lose the hook embedded in one of the chunks of ice that had come down on him.

The Viking was about to dismiss it when the other end of the rope garnered his attention. “ _No…no, no, no._ ”

Hiccup continued to echo his denial, pushing himself up and scrambling over to a second pile of ice on hands and knees. He didn’t even register his mother’s worried calls as he began to dig through the ice, straining to push larger chunks to the side. Neither did he notice when the other Dragon Riders landed as he push the last slab of ice off to the side. Carefully, the young man reached out—his hand pausing for a moment, not sure if he wanted to continue—and grabbed hold of the blue fabric, turning the smaller frame over.

The hand slipped from between the straps of the shield and, for once, the gnarled piece of wood was left on the ground. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth as unseeing amber eyes looked out into eternity, vacant and void of life.

“Jackson…Jack, come on _Elskede_ , wake up,” Hiccup choked out, pulling the limp body into his arms and holding him close. “You need to wake up, for me.”

“Hiccup,” Astrid slipped from Stormfly’s saddle and headed for the small family, only to freeze a few paces away upon catching sight of the void amber eyes.

“Is he—?” Snotlout came to stand beside the shieldmaiden, only to gulp down the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

“ ** _NO!_** ” the auburn-haired Viking venomously denied, drawing Jackson closer to himself. “ _Elskede…_ _Beloved …_ that’s what it means, _Elskede_ , my Beloved One… I told you I’d tell you one day…I promised…I kept my promise…and you _have_ to keep yours…you promised you’d always be there for me… you got to come back, Jackson, _please come back_.”

A nudge at the Druid’s limp hand compelled Hiccup to look up. Toothless—acid green eyes once again normal—whimpered, nudging the hand again in an attempt to get Jackson to pet him as he had done countless times before. The ordinary action triggered a piercing, all-consuming rage to overtake the young man. Roughly, he pulled Jackson away from the dragon, shielding his body with his own, and shoved the Night Fury away.

Pushing the dragon away from the death he had wrought.             

From the love he had taken from Hiccup.

“No! Get away from him!” the auburn-haired Viking shoved the dragon away once more. Toothless recoiled. Confused, he looked around with slumped shoulders, glancing at each of the tearful faces of the Dragon Riders. The black dragon didn’t appear to know what he had done which only furthered the young man’s fury. “ _GO ON! GET OUT OF HERE! **GET AWAY!**_ ”

The Night Fury scurried backwards, ear-plates back and head hung low. Valka watched as her son hunched over the brunet’s body, inconsolable. The other young men and women who surrounded Hiccup, and even Gobber, seemed to want to join them as well but held back. Instead, the blacksmith came to stand at the auburn-haired woman’s side.

“It’s not his fault. You know that,” Valka whispered, cradling Stoick’s head in her lap. Her eyes, however, were fixed on the battlefield where Drago’s enslaved dragon let out another bellow. She might not have been able to hear the ultrasonic sound, but the dragons could and they too responded as Toothless had done. All of them. “Good dragons under the control of bad people do bad things.”

It was Heather that noticed what was transpiring first. Her cries as Windshear took to the skies altered the other Dragon Riders. Her plea went unanswered as the metallic dragon was quickly joined by the rest of dragons from Berk. On either side of the alchemist, the others called out to the departing dragons. It was to no avail, all of them joined the Bewilderbeast’s swarm.   Their attention was quickly drawn away from their absconding dragons as a triumphant bellow spread across the battlefield. What they found there was an even worse sight.

Drago, riding on top of a struggling Night Fury, began rallying his vast armada. “Gather the men and meet at Berk!”

The men cheered and fell back to their fleet of ships. Headed to their next battle. Towards Berk and heading the charge was Drago, riding the only known Night Fury in existence. Hiccup could only watch in despair as the Dragon Conqueror harshly yanked on the saddle he had built and force the Night Fury to head to his flagship. All of the young man’s earlier rage at Toothless vanished as the enslaved dragon flew further and further away.

“Toothless,” Hiccup whispered, watching the dragon as the weight in his arms became heavier. This wasn’t what Jackson would have wanted. He would have been horrified that any dragon was being forced into servitude.

What was more, Jackson would have broken his Druid traditions and kill anyone who would dare to enslave _Toothless._ To use the dragon for their own gain. The brunet adored all dragons, but he had a special place in his heart for the Night Fury and Toothless felt the same. Hiccup knew this. He knew the Night Fury would never willingly hurt Jackson or him and he always thought he wouldn’t hurt the dragon either.

But he had. Hiccup had hurt Toothless. Not intentionally, blinded by his grief, but he was going to make it right. Laying the limp body down, the Viking made to go after the Night Fury, his friend, his buddy, _Toothless_.

“No, don’t!” Valka grabbed him when he tried to pass. Holding him back, keeping him from rescuing Toothless and forcing him to watch, powerless as all the dragons followed the departing armada.

With the grey Bewilderbeast slipping down in the waters once more, Hiccup realizes he had lost.

He had lost the battle.

He had lost Toothless.

He had lost Jackson.

He had lost _everything_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HearHearHear and zeroGH: Well, I obliged with the tiny AU and didn't have Stoick die. (I have a feeling that this isn't going to go down well for my inbox. But technically, it was a canon character death, just not in HTTYDs.)
> 
> Unlike usual, since I messed up with not getting a chapter out last week with all the hassle call centers put me through, I will be posting a small chapter next Friday as a conciliation before returning to my regular updating schedule of every other Friday (HTTYD3 WILL BE OUT THEN, so maybe a day early/late if I go see the movie).


	14. A Viking Funeral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone I made cry last chapter, here is the short, and I do mean short, chapter I promised. Sorry?
> 
> Still don't have a computer of my own, so working on this when I can get away with it on other people's computers. XP
> 
> Moonlight Melody: I am an inspiration? *melts inside* THANK YOU!
> 
> ConfessedGeek: I figured you had me figured out, thanks for not spoiling my twist. Sorry for the Broken Heart...it might break a little more with this chapter though. Tissue? *Holds out handkerchief*
> 
> For all those asking questions on what will happen next: Nope. No Spoilers from me. You'll have to read to see.

Jackson appeared to be at peace. The blood on his face had been wiped away and someone—most likely Gobber—saw fit to close his eyes. Laid out with his staff resting diagonally across his chest and the Gronckle Iron shield over the top of the gnarled piece of wood—and the gaping wound over his heart—the brunet almost looked like he was sleeping. The tranquil expression on his lax face further the notion, yet the pallor of the Druid’s skin and his lack of breathing contradicted the appearance of sleep.

Stoick moved to cover the brunet’s body yet a hand on his wrist prevented him from doing so.

“Don’t. I…he… No,” Hiccup shook his head slowly, not being able to string together his reason for wanting Jackson left alone.

His father must have seen something in him and understood because he let the sail slip to the deck. The young man graced Stoick with a frail fragile smile before turning his attention back to Jackson. Warily, Hiccup reached out to caress the beautiful face one last time only to abort the action. Instead, he adjusted the cloak’s hood. He couldn’t bear to touch cold skin, not when Jackson had always been so warm and full of life.

A large hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing it softly. “It’s time.”

“Just one more moment,” Hiccup pleaded, knowing this was the last time he would see of his beloved but unable to leave just yet. Stoick didn’t say a word, understanding dawning on him when his son reached into a hidden pocket near his heart and produced an amulet. It was old, that much was obvious with how tarnished the silver appeared, but no less beautiful with the intricate knotwork design of two faces, one a Viking and the other a dragon, directed away from each other while additional knotwork embellishment took up the rest of the surface.

The aging chief couldn’t stop the tears from falling, wishing the Valkyries took him instead. He’d lived a long and full like with no regrets now that Valka was found. Stoick would have gladly died in the boy’s place if it meant sparing his son the same heartache he’d experienced when his wife was taken from him. At least he’d gotten the opportunity to present his betrothal gift—the very same now held in his boy’s hand—to Valka. Hiccup would never get the chance.

“Take your time,” the chief choked out, letting his hand fall from the young man’s shoulder.  

Hiccup mechanically nodded his head and took a step forward, dropping to his knees. Carefully, he reached up and untangled the three cords tied to Jackson’s staff, recalling the history of each. A snowflake made of the finest silver, one the young blacksmith’s apprentice spent weeks perfecting to be worthy of gifting to a loyal follower of Jökul Frosti. A Night Fury’s scale to commemorate the day a Druid became an official Dragon Rider and a part of the Dragon Training Academy. A small clear, elongated crystal from the legendary Crystal Cave—the birthplace of magic—passed down from the forefather of the Taliesin clan to its last member.   Gripping the crystal tight in reminiscent of how Jackson would whenever he got lost in his memories of the family and friends he’d lost, Hiccup threaded the amulet he’d intended to present to the Druid as a betrothal gift onto one of the cords and tied the three charms back to the staff.

Getting to his feet, vivid green eyes never once strayed as he took one last look, trying to memorize everything about Jackson. The way his hair always had a tussled appearance to it, no matter how many times he combed it in the mornings. How his eyes gleamed with life and would give away his every emotion. Hiccup drank it all in before allowing his father to pull him away.

Together, the two Haddocks climbed off the battered remains of the small ship they’d been able to salvage. Valka assisted Stoick down, supporting his massive weight against her slight frame as she led him further up the shore. The chief hadn’t come out of the Night Fury’s attack completely unharmed. The least of it being a twisted—maybe broken—ankle and molten bruises blossoming a crossed his back. There was some room for additional concern since he’d been coughing up blood earlier, but Heather had given the chief a couple of tinctures and potions which stopped the internal bleeding.

While his mother was busy assisting his father, Hiccup pushed against the bow of the tattered ship. The keel ground against the pebbles of the shoreline and the boat listed before floating off into the iceberg-filled waters. He stood there watching as the boat tilted even more. Obviously taking on water. It wouldn’t be afloat for long—which was most likely the reason Drago’s men left it behind—but it wasn’t meant to.

Feeling something brush up against his knuckles, Hiccup didn’t even bother to look away from the slowly sinking boat and took the bow and arrow Gobber offered to him. He felt the man pat him on his shoulder before walking away. His grip on the bow tightening when the blacksmith began the ceremony.

“May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin’s great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the heights of Valhalla and know that you’ve taken your rightful place at the table of kings. For a great man has fallen. A friend. A Druid. A Dragon Rider,” Gobber choked out through his tears, not that anyone else was doing any better.

Hiccup let out a deep breath as he dipped the arrowhead in a smoldering chunk of wreckage, igniting the potent smelling pitch coating the tip. Raising the bow high into the air, he didn’t bother to take aim as he released the shaft. The flaming arrow sailed through the air in a perfect arc, landing on the deck of the ship. It would have hit the pyre on which Jackson’s body was laid out upon, however, a light nudge from the winds had it piercing through the tattered sail on the deck instead.

The rest of the Vikings followed Hiccup’s lead and drew back their own bows in unison, letting arrows fly and filling the sky with crisscrossing streaks of flames. They arced over the waters and implanted themselves around the pyre, set the ship alight. Yet, not a single flame engulfed the Druid’s body as the howling winds kept them at bay. Together, they watched as the ship was swallowed up by the flames eating away at the mast.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Hiccup spoke up, fighting back his tears—and losing the battle—as the boat sunk further and further into the water. “I’m not the chief that you wanted me to be. And I’m not the peacekeeper I thought I was. I… don’t know...”

“Son, no,” Stoick denied, not able to watch the lost young man blame himself for this mess. It made the chief’s heartbreak all over again. For once the chief couldn’t find any words of wisdom or comfort to say. Not when it was because of him Jackson was dead. The teenager threw himself between him and the blast—not Hiccup, but Stoick—to take the brunt of the attack. He died to save Stoick.

Sensing the turmoil of her boys, Valka moved from her husband’s side to stand next to their son—watching as the boat halfway submerged in the water and half alight in flames began to fall part—her voice barely heard above the distant crackling fire and wailing winds. “You came early into this world. You were such a wee thing. So frail, so fragile. I feared you wouldn’t make it. But your father…” the woman trailed off when Hiccup lowered his eyes, only for his mother to lift his chin back up to look her in the eyes, “he never doubted. He always said you’d become the strongest of them all.”

“Aye, and I was right. You have become the strongest of all of us because of this,” the chief said from Hiccup’s other side as the aging man laid a hand over the younger man’s heart, “and Jackson knew this. He saw in you what I saw. He saw you for what you were, what you would become. He believed in you. He _loved_ you. You have the heart of a chief—”

“—and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together. That is who you are, son,” Valka finished laying her hand over Stoick’s, gazing at her son with a comforting smile.

Vivid green eyes flickered between his parents’ gazes before staring out across the waters where the silhouette of the ship was barely visible in the glowing flames as it sank into the icy cold waters. Taking a step forward, he moved between his parents and towards the water’s edge. Hiccup didn’t dare look back but raised his voice to address those behind him.

“I, uh…,” the young Viking took a deep breath and began again. “I was so afraid of becoming you, Dad,” Stoick opened his mouth, ready to contradict him; yet a delicate hand on his shoulder stopped him, allowing the auburn-haired young man to continue. “Mostly because I thought I never could. How—how do you become someone… that great, that… brave, that… selfless? I—I didn’t think I could, but Jack…Jackson? He knew differently. He told me I’d make a great chief.

“I—I didn’t believe him. But he was right,” for the first time since the boat was pushed out to sea, Hiccup turned to look at the others. A determined expression on his face. “A chief protects his own. We’re going back because that’s what Jackson would do. It’s what we’re going to do. We’ve got to get our dragons back.”

“Uh… with what?” Tuffnut was the first to voice the obvious problem.

“He took all the dragons,” Ruffnut pointed out, waving her hands around.

A slow smirk spread across Hiccup’s face. “Not all of them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Son of a....AMAZON! I have been trying so hard not to look anything up online even remotely related to HTTYD3 because I DON'T WANT SPOILERS! I want to have all the feels when I watch it for the first time, and what does Amazon do? They show me Night Light Funko Pop figure as a suggestion based my prior purchases history from way back when HTTYD2 came out (come on, who could resist buying the movie's sound track with The Dancing and the Dreaming and Where No One Goes on it?). I guess that isn't a big spoiler in the whole scheme of things, but still. Now I'm in love with the little dragon and I don't even know him (her?). Please no spoilers, still anxiously awaiting the release here.
> 
> On that note, I will probably be a day late with the next update because I'm going to go see the movie! Also, if you've liked the story so far and have a few extra bucks, please support me at silverlysilence (I'm going to buy that Night Light)


	15. Glimpse of Váli

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm, suprise? Here's another short chapter. (Couldn't make this fit but liked it too much to trash it altogether.) Also, I felt like I had to post something since it was International Fanwork Day (which I didn't know existed until two hours ago XP).
> 
> CatherineADurr: Thank you for the beautiful review and since you've been one of my longest readers/reviewers, I will happily answer your question. I have been planning to kill off Jack since the whole series began, that was spark of inspiration that got me started writing this massive series. This was supposed to be Chapter 9 of the original draft of Soul of a Druid before my muse went nuts.
> 
> If you all look at the second chapter of Soul of a Druid where the Disir (and I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not that only very few people picked up on the fact that it was Valka who was the Disir before this series started. Then again I did try to hide it by making the array produce a red light to distort her features) sends Jack to the past, the last line implies what will befall Jack in the past.

“I don’t want to die!” Fishlegs wailed as he grappled to get a better hold onto the blue and green juvenile Scuttleclaw wildly zigzagging through the narrow ice channels created from where the massive iceberg shelves split and separated.

Tuffnut, flying just ahead of the heavyset Viking on an orange and blue Scuttleclaw, was having slightly better luck riding bareback—but not by much—and whole heartedly agreed with the sentiment. “We can’t fly these things!”

“Yeah, no kidding!” Fishlegs barely got out before the Short-Wing dragon barreled into a snow bank.  Several chunks of snow and ice were sent flying everywhere, spraying right into Eret’s face but the Gronckle rider didn’t fall off.  The Dragon Trapper, on the other hand, sputtered and lifted a hand to shield his face only to lose his balance and slip. He quickly tried to grab on to the purple and blue Scuttleclaw’s neck, inadvertently inverting himself.

“But won’t that Bewilderbeast just take control of these guys, too?” Astrid shouted loud enough that her leader could hear her while she pulled Eret back up on top of his mount. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, what with her green and yellow dragon reaching out and playfully snapping at the purple and blue Short-Wing dragon the trapper was riding, but between the two of them, they managed.

“They’re babies. They don’t listen to anyone!” Hiccup yelled over his shoulder, struggling only slightly with the blue and purple Scuttleclaw to get her to follow his commands.  Out of all of them, she was the most well-behaved and he didn’t know if it was just in the dragon’s nature, his dragon training skills or a combination of the two.  Whatever it was, the blue and purple Scuttleclaw was responding to his wishes.

“Yeah, just like us!” Tuffnut hooted and hollered, riding the bucking dragon as if it were a wild yak.  He was actually doing a pretty good job of it too.  Especially compared to Gobber.  The blue and yellow juvenile dragon the blacksmith was riding kept ramming into one side of the iceberg’s walls before barrel-rolling away and into the other side.

“This... is... very dangerous!” Gobber hollered, looking a little green around the gills.  A ball of burnt-orange light darted in front of him as Fawn landed on the Small-Wing’s nosehorn, chiming softly in reprimand.  The Scuttleclaw let out a small remorseful chirp before falling back to fly alongside Stoick who was taking up the rear on the largest Scuttleclaw of the bunch. “Oh Thor, much appreciated, Fawn.”

The fae gave out a subdued chime and listlessly flew over to land on the yellow and orange dragon the chief was riding. She sat on the Scuttleclaw’s head, holding tight to one of the spines while every once in a while chiming at the juvenile when he started bucking.  The dragon would more often than not listen and stay calm, preventing Stoick from aggravating his injuries. Yet the Wee Folk was distracted, mourning for Jackson, and the Scuttleclaw took advantage of her distracted state until she was snapped out of it once more to get him back under control.

“Some might suggest this is poorly conceived,” Heather commented from the middle of the group, her red and grey mount flying closer to the water and ice below than she would have liked.  Her goggles and hood were firmly in place to shield her face from the misty spray of the brutal waves lapping at the Small-Wing’s talons.

Hiccup didn’t even bother to look back, a feral grin spreading across his face. “It’s a good thing that I never listen.”

“It’s a good thing that _we all_ never listen,” Snotlout corrected, urging his mount to the left while his cousin went to the right of an icy peak and reconvened on the other side.

“Hell yeah,” Ruffnut agreed, her blue and orange dragon crashing into her twin’s Scuttleclaw which didn’t seem to be all the dragon’s doing.

“Do you even have a plan?!” Valka’s brown and grey Short-Wing flew around one of the gaps in the ice, cutting off Fishlegs and sending him cantering through a snowbank.

“Get Toothless back and kick Drago’s—” Hiccup’s rant was interrupted by him going one way down another ice peak while his mother went the opposite direction and while she might not have heard what was said, the Dragon Riders—who all followed his lead—had.  The smirks on their face and matching gleams in their eyes told of their agreement with whatever their leader said.

Jackson Overland may have been one of theirs, a friend to them all, but they weren’t like Jackson. They weren’t Druids, they were _Vikings_.  They would protect their own at all costs and while they respected his commitment to never take a life, they had no such reservations.  They would have their revenge. 

Drago had taken everything from Hiccup.

Hiccup would take everything from Drago. 

A life for a _life_.


	16. Battle at Berk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On phone to post draft. Not good at typing. See you after I see the movie.

“No…” the word pierced through all the Dragon Riders’ hearts as a dragon’s roar—one that they were coming to associate with the Bewilderbeast—rent the air.  The fog hindering the view in the early morning light was beginning to dissipate, leaving behind the silhouette of Drago’s enslaved Titan-Wing dragon standing before an explosion of ice and, much to their horror, underneath the ice was their village.

Their race against time was for naught.

“We’re too late,” Heather hissed, knuckles turning white as her grip on the nub on the Scuttleclaw’s back tightened.

“He took all the dragons!” Fishlegs whimpered, watching as the last of the dragons on Berk flew to join the commandeered herd huddle behind the Bewilderbeast, controlled and corralled by Drago and his armored dragons.

“No, we’re not,” Hiccup rebuffed, eyes narrowing as he searched for the sole black dragon in the bunch. He spotted the Night Fury with Drago still on his back, flying off to the side of his enslaved Titan-Wing dragon.  “Distract the alpha. Try to keep his focus off Toothless.”

Tuffnut glanced at his sister—who wore the same panicky expression as he did—and voiced the thought on all the riders’ minds. “Uh…How?”

Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Hiccup who answered, but Eret. “Have you forgotten who you’re riding with? There isn’t a dragon alive that I can’t wrangle!” It would have bolstered confidence in the clearly outnumbered group—having an ally who used to work for the enemy would be very beneficial—however, the Scuttleclaw he was riding decided then was the best time make a dive for the sea, ruining the moment. “Except for this one!”

“Amateur,” Snotlout snorted.  “He wouldn’t score a point in the Dragon Ra- _ces_ ,” the last word was hissed, his voice taking a whole different tone.  One of excitement that promised retribution.  “I’ve got an idea.  Follow me.”

The others shared a look, shrugged, and followed after the Monstrous Nightmare rider while his cousin headed straight for Toothless. His brazen approach didn’t go unnoticed. Some of the villagers hiding behind one of the partially ice-covered huts notice the throng of Scuttleclaws approaching.

“Look, it’s Hiccup!” Bucket’s voice seemed to cover the whole village.  Within moments, the Vikings once backed into a corner were rallying, as war cries sounded throughout the village.

The Hairy Hooligan Tribe wasn’t the only one to notice their arrival.  Drago spotted the single purple Scuttleclaw flying straight toward him the same time the Bewilderbeast caught sight of the tiny—compared to him—dragon.  The command signaled through his bullhook had the mud-colored Titan forcing his will over the Small-Wing.

The baby dragon didn’t listen.

“What?” Drago’s disbelief paralleled the Bewilderbeast’s irritation. 

The colossal dragon bared his teeth as Hiccup flew even closer to Toothless.  He didn’t get the chance to attack the persistent Viking when a sheep appeared in between him and the approaching enemy only to fall out of view. The Bewilderbeast blinked, confused and disoriented, losing focus on the purple Scuttleclaw.  Instead, the mud-colored Titan followed the sheep’s descent, where it was caught in Eret’s arm.

“Keep ‘em coming!” Ruffnut reloaded the launcher with the sheep the Dragon Trapper threw her.  She ducked out of the way as Tuffnut cocked the mechanism and together, they pulled the trigger. The Bewilderbeast couldn’t help but watch the sheep sail up and back down once again.

“Black sheep, baby!” Snotlout grinned, tossing the black sheep to Heather as the twins ran every which way trying to catch the falling sheep.  They succeeded, barely.

The momentary lapse in volleying sheep gave the Titan-Wing a chance to inhale a large lungful of air. The buildup of the attack was much more dramatic then the harmless huff of cold air released when a horn blared in the distance, breaking the beast’s concentration.  The colossal dragon’s head whipped around, searching for the source of the noise and only found an unmanned horn. With nothing in sight to attack, the Bewilderbeast turned back to the sheep launcher in time for the black sheep to land on his face, bouncing down his facial spines and becoming lodged in between two of them.

Snotlout hooted from the ground at Heather’s amazing aim. “Ten points!”

The Titan-Wing dragon’s eyes crossed, attempting to get a good look at the sheep right underneath his nose.  A ruff breath of air exhaled upwards had the black sheep dislodging and falling back to earth where Eret caught him. They couldn’t help but laugh at the bewildered Bewilderbeast.  However, when the bewilderment turned into anger, they knew they were in trouble.  Especially when he prepared another blast.

“Uh-oh...” the brunet Viking gulped, letting out a huge sigh of relief only a few seconds later when the horn blared once more and postponed the attack.

Snotlout could see the moment the Bewilderbeast had enough and prepared to launch the postponed blast at the horn.  He was about to call out a warning, but Fishlegs chose that moment to peer out from around the game horn and looked death in the face.  The brunet Viking let out a sigh of relief when the Gronckle rider jumped from the platform an instant before the entire horn was covered in jagged spikes.

“ _FISHLEGS!_ ” Ruffnut shouted, not having seen the narrow escape the blonde Viking made from her vantage point.

“I’m okay!” Fishlegs’s voice echoed from between the spirals of ice, “but Hiccup might not be!”

“What?” Astrid yelped, whipping her head around to see the Bewilderbeast had turned his attention towards the purple Scuttleclaw hovering before Drago.  “Oh, Týr. _Tuffnut!_ ”

“I’m on it!” the Viking with blond dreadlocks shouted, preparing the launcher with Eret’s assistance and firing it in record time.  The sheep hit the Titan dead on, effectively drawing his attention back towards the ground and away from Hiccup.  The Dragon Rider and the Dragon Trapper traded looks before running for their lives, ice on their heels.

“You Hooligans certainly are hard to get rid of, I’ll give you that,” Drago sneered, watching the man who had once been his best trapper and the dense blond leaped off the ledge and into the safety the previous crevasses of ice created. 

Hiccup ignored him and focused on Toothless’ eyes, pupils still no more than slits. “Toothless? It’s me, Bud. It’s me. I’m right here, Bud. Come back to me.”

“He is not yours anymore. He belongs to the alpha!” the Dragon Conqueror cackled, waving his hand towards the Bewilderbeast coming to attention behind him. Smugly, he sat back into the saddle and opened his arms in invitation. “But, please, oh great _Dragon Master_ , try to take him. He will not miss a second time.

The auburn-haired Viking gritted his teeth, but held strong, maintaining eye contact with Toothless and forcing himself to ignore Drago’s gloating.

“It wasn’t your fault, Bud,” Hiccup whispered, balancing himself dangerously on the Sucttleclaw to reach out towards the Night Fury. “They made you do it—” Drago’s amusement faded as Toothless stirred underneath him “—you’d never hurt Jackson—” acid green eyes shifted between pupils dilating and then narrowing again “—you’d never hurt me.”

Drago could only watch in astonishment as Toothless fought the Bewilderbeast’s influence, despite the alpha’s power solely focused on him alone. “How are you doing that?”

“Please. You are my best friend, Bud,” the young man held his gaze, tears brimming in his eyes.  He didn’t even startle when the Titan before him growled a forceful command, focusing on the jittering pupils that were slowly dilating.  “My best friend.  Jackson—” Hiccup placed his head on the Night Fury’s nose when acid green eyes’ pupils began to become slits “—wouldn’t have wanted this.”

There was a pause, the black dragon slamming his eyes and tossing his head back and forth.  Slowly, acid green eyes blinked open and fully dilated pupils stared back at Hiccup. Toothless let out a sympathetic coo upon seeing his rider.

“Atta boy!” Hiccup cheered, pulling his hand away. “That’s it! I’m here!”

The Dragon Conqueror went from astounded to alarmed in an instant, striking the Night Fury in the side with his bullhook in a vain attempt to regain control. “Enough!”

Drago attempted to attack Toothless a second time, however, the dragon defiantly grabbed hold of the weapon in his jaws, and pulled.  Twisting in the air, he yanked the man off of his back and sent him plummeting into the sea.  The Night Fury triumphantly watch the man tumble through the air and glanced up, giving his rider a pleased toothless grin.

“Yeah!”

Without a rider, Toothless also dropped out of the sky with a startled screech. Hiccup’s proud shout died out immediately.  His hand reflexively released the Scuttleclaw and without another thought, he dove from the baby dragon after Toothless.

“Hang on! Almost there, buddy. Almost there!” Hiccup spoke more for his own benefit than that of the Night Fury’s, reaching out his hand in an effort to grab hold of some part of Toothless.  Yet, they were too far apart and the debris-filled water was coming closer and closer with every passing second.  Vivid green eyes briefly noticed Drago was able to break his fall by landing heavily upon the Bewilderbeast’s tusk and he hoped Toothless might be able to grab hold of the tusk to save himself too.  At least one of them would survive then.  However, the colossal dragon turned his head slightly to the side, dashing his hope.

A sudden gust of wind gripped ahold of him, forcing his arms closer to his body, and propelled the Dragon Rider towards Toothless.  The Night Fury, seeing his rider so close, maneuvered himself the best he could for Hiccup to grabbed hold of his saddle with one arm. With the new leverage, the young man was able to swing his foot into the metal prosthetist and shifting the mechanical tailfin opened. 

Toothless banked hard, Hiccup’s body slamming into the saddle as they evened out less than a foot from the water. They flew parallel to the water only long enough for Hiccup to situate himself before skyrocketing skywards, passing Drago as he hobbled his way across the tusk.  Banking around, two pairs of green eyes glared at the Dragon Conqueror issuing commands from the top of the Bewilderbeast’s head.

“Do something!”

“We need to get those two apart,” vivid green eyes narrowed as his mind raced through strategies. 

A gust of wind had his attention drawn towards a ragged red flag barely being held up by a post and his thoughts came to a crashing halt.   A moment later, a determined gleam entered his eyes as he leaned to the side, directing Toothless towards the flagpole.  A piece of the tattered fabric was torn off as they soared by, racing ahead of the Bewilderbeast’s blast. The ice barely missed them as Toothless maneuvered them through the village and around the back of a mountain, out of attacking range.

“We gotta block him out, Toothless,” Hiccup let go of the saddle and gripped the length of fabric with both hands, holding it out for the Night Fury to see. “Do you trust me, Bud?”

Toothless cooed and held his head up, making it easier for his rider to wrap the red piece of material over his eyes, blindfolding him.  Hiccup could tell when the blindfold was securely in place as the dragon underneath him noticeably stiffen.  He quickly finished tying the knot and placed a hand right above the material, soothing the dragon with his mere touch.

“We can do this. You and me. As one,” the Night Fury rider whispered into flickering ear-plates.  Hiccup slowly splaying open the mechanical tail to give the dragon time to adjust to his lack of sight, but Toothless didn’t need any time to adjust.  He trusted his rider and responded straightaway, matching the move with the natural half of his tailfin.

“That’s it. Now let’s try this one more time!”

They peeled around the other side of the mountain, heading back toward Drago and the Bewilderbeast.  The cheers of the tribe below him grew, pushing him on, a constant reminder of what they were fighting for. He saw the faint twinkling of lights as the magic of wyldfae’s enchantments pulsed within the ice, creating pockets and the faint movement inside let him know those inside were alive.

“Show ‘em what we’re made of.”

He saw the other Dragon Riders—his friends, his council, his pack—lugging sheep towards the Great Hall, their roars of support the loudest.   

“Take him down, Hiccup!”

He saw his mentor and his mother helping his father stand, watching him with pride in their eyes.

“Go get ‘em.”

This was what he was fighting for, his tribe, his people, his family.

“For Jackson,” Hiccup positioned himself so he was laying on the Night Fury’s back, streamlining their bodies and giving them a boost of speed as they headed on a collision course with the Bewilderbeast.

“Take control of it!” Drago shouted, swinging his bullhook around and pointing it at the two.  The mud-colored dragon’s low hiss became a furious roar when he couldn’t gain control of the Night Fury, but even that was to no avail.

Not with Hiccup clamping his hands over Toothless’s ear-plates, muffling the commands and keeping him from taking control. “Shut it out, Toothless.”

“ _STOP THEM!_ ”

They were still too far away with too much space between them.  However, with the Bewilderbeast sucking in a lungful of air, Hiccup had no other choice but to jerk the locking mechanism to keep the mechanical tailfin sprayed open in place.

“ _NOW!_ ”

Toothless continued straight at the Titan, dodging the blast of ice at the last second by pulling up to arch over the Bewilderbeast’s head. Drago laughed victoriously at the futility of the pathetic attempt at an attack.  His body turned to keep the Night Fury in sight as the black dragon climbed higher into the air.  It was then the Dragon Conqueror’s chortles trailed off as Toothless inverted, flying upside-down through the sky—the blindfold falling freely—to reveal an empty saddle.

As comprehension dawned on Drago, he whirled around with a fraction of a second to pull up his bullhook and swipe at the Dragon Rider flying at him.  Hiccup narrowly avoided the sharp blade piercing through his wing-suit by banking to the left.  His thumb pressed down on Inferno’s release valve, spraying Hideous Zippleback gas in a trail behind him. A click of the Dragon Blade’s lighter and the gas ignited, blasting Drago off his Bewilderbeast with a scream.

Hiccup smirked as the man tumbled down the massive dragon’s side, only slightly remorseful as Drago was rammed painfully into various spines which broke his fall instead of him breaking his neck when he landed hard on the ground.  The man’s bullhook landed just out of reach. Yet, the Dragon Rider didn’t have time to mourn the fact Drago was still alive.  Not when he had to deal with the Bewilderbeast’s tail whipping through the air, straight at him.

“Not again,” Hiccup couldn’t stop the groan from escaping, frantically looking for the Night Fury and catching sight of the dragon too far below him. “ _TOOTHLESS!_ It’s Now or Never!”

Toothless growled, struggling with his tailfin currently locked in place.  It was no use.  The mechanical tailfin couldn’t respond like his biological appendage could. Then again, he did have other appendages and with some concentration, the Night Fury’s dorsal blades sprung open for the second time in his whole life.  Toothless effortlessly arched the blades to his will, making the steep ascent his locked tailfin won’t allow for. The dragon and Dragon Rider joined up just before either of them could collide with the Bewilderbeast’s tail. Together, they sped along the length of the thrashing tail, in between spines trying to skewer them.

“Hold on!”

They shot past the tip of the tail, narrowly making it.

“Yeah! We did it!” Hiccup shouted in pure relief while Toothless leaned back and fell from the sky as a way to express his reprieve. The dragon spiraled downwards before spraying out his wings, catching the air and arcing through the sky straight for Berk.  Landing a few paces from Drago, the dragon kicked up a trail of dust with his hasty arrival.

Battered and weary, Drago hastily reached for his bullhook in an effort to arm himself.  However, Hiccup was already out of the saddle, extending the flame-covered Inferno and hurling it like a javelin before the dust could even settle.  The blade flew true and singed the Dragon Conqueror’s outstretched hand, coming in between him and his weapon.

“Hold him there Toothless!” the Viking hissed over Drago’s scream of pain. The dragon snarled in delight, a soft whine building up in his throat as he gathered plasma, just waiting for a chance to blast the man. “It’s all over now.”

As Hiccup swiftly pulled his wings off and tucked them away, he missed the cloud of dust settling behind him and didn’t take notice of the Bewilderbeast rising up.

Drago, on the other hand, didn’t miss it and grinned knowingly. “Or is it?”

“Uh,” catching the victorious expression on the defeated man’s face, the Dragon Rider spun around, following Drago’s gaze.  Alarmed rushed through him as the thunderous sound of the Titan-Wing’s building attack reached his ears.  He actually saw the water speeding up and out of the dragon’s throat before self-preservation kicked in and he made a run for it.

“Oh, no!”

He didn’t get far as his metal leg gave out from under him and crumbled to the ground.  Survival instincts had him throwing up his arms to cover his head, but it wouldn’t be enough.  Not even Toothless leaping in the way, shielding Hiccup beneath him, was enough to keep the freezing explosion from enveloping them both and hardening into solid ice.  The last thought to run through Hiccup’s mind was that he now knew exactly how Johann must have felt before being frozen alive.


	17. Looming Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: The wonderful spyriteVestar sent me fanart! Go check it out here (I am currently having trouble getting the fanart show up here>.<)
> 
> Second: This chapter was going to be posted after I saw the movie so I could rant at all of you, but I got called in and never got around to seeing it. I hope those who were going to see it last weekend had just as great of a time as I did and if you didn't, as a treat, read this. The next update will be in two weeks, I've spoiled you all with weekly updates.
> 
> TurntechToddhead: Like I'm having trouble putting spyriteVestar's image on AO3, your image didn't know come through either. Sorry.
> 
> TwentyAnime, Michael, & everyone else wanting a Hidden World squeal: You do realized I started this fic when the second movie came out and still haven't finished it, right? Even if I wanted to (and I'm not saying I will or I won't) make a Hidden World adaptation to fit in with my series, it wouldn't be for sometime. I never start posting until I have a storyboard flushed out into a flexible storyline and even then I won't posted until I have a few chapters under my belt. This fic has taken up a lot of my time and I do love writing it, but I haven't seen the third movie enough (only once, because I'm still on a budget) to get an idea of how I would adapt the world to fit with my own headcannon. Not to mention, I'm still out a computer (I'm never shopping at Office Max/Depot again, even if they have stellar laptop sales, they never got me a refund or my laptop back. Yes, I am still bitter, why are you asking?). 
> 
> Ameekay: The "frozen alive" reference was from the Race to the Edge show, if you didn't get that, then you might not understand a few of the other references in this chapter.

Jackson bolted up right, gasping loudly.  His chest heaved with each desperate gulp of air he greedily sucked into his aching lungs while his heart drummed up an irregular tattoo.  Amber orbs frantically darted around into the darkness surrounding him, before the brunet stiffened.

“Not again,” Jackson moaned, flopping back down onto the lackluster red light coming from the giant array he found himself in the middle of.  The soft rhythmic sound of dripping water in the background was as soothing as the first time he’d wound up in this place.  “How do I keep winding up back here? … And where in Odin’s name is here?”

A soft chuckle echoed out from the darkened abyss on the other side of the array.  “How about we shine some light on things then?”

Light flooded the area as suddenly as the unknown voice had, illuminating the cavern.  The Druid winced as the light abruptly assaulting his eyes but with a few blinks and he was able to clearly see the ice and rock formations which made up his surroundings.  Pushing himself upright once more, the brunet took note of the few human comforts in the livingspace and if one were to take away the faint glowing circle he was stuck in, Jackson would have believed he was back in Valka’s living chambers.  However, this placed was clearly abandon, no one had lived within its confines for centuries.  The life and magic which flowed through the whole mountain sanctuary was muted, almost like remnants of relics in ancient ruins.

Yet, despite the newfound light revealing his surroundings, the place was definitely the same as it had been when Jack Frost had been thrown into the past all those years ago.  The only thing different was that it wasn’t the Disir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe on the other side of the array. Then again, the Disir couldn’t have been there. Not when Valka was very much a mortal when he’d die—closed his eyes.  There was no way she could have become the Disir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe just yet.  Still, that left Jackson wondering just who was the man standing on the outside of the array where Valka once stood.  

Orbs of icy blue trained on the Druid wouldn’t have been all that intimidating if not for the fact they were looking down on him.  The man was a titan, taller than even Stoick but nowhere near as bulky.  That wasn’t to say he was scrawny because that would be far from the truth, but he wasn’t as built as the majority of the Vikings Jackson had come to know. 

His attire—on the other hand—screamed Viking, being comprised of a mixture of bone and scalemail armor accented with red furs. The skin not concealed by spiky bone armored plates was pale, sans the numerous discolored scars decorating his arms and legs.  It was his hair which had Jackson tilting his head to the side in consideration.  Hair that was as white as Jack Frost’s own was swept back, cascading down the man’s shoulders all the way down to his waist where the locks tapered off into a deep red color and if someone were to tell him those tips were dipped in blood, the Druid would believe it. 

“You’re not Valka,” the Druid blurted out after he got his first good look at the white-haired man, causing said man to let out another rumbling chuckle while his power washed over Jackson like a tidal wave.  “And you’re not a Disir either, not with power like that.  Who are you?”

“The better question is not who I am, but what am I?” the man corrected, his grin feral and wild.

The burnet slowly shook his head, not taking his eyes off those icy blue eyes, while getting to his feet.  “No, that’s not the better question.  I know many who are not human or even of this world, but it doesn’t matter _what_ they are but _who_ they are. That is what defines a person.  So my question still stands, who are you?”

The man stood there for a moment blinking before a heartfelt laugh filled the cavern.  “I knew there was a reason I liked you.  For one so young and naïve, you have the understanding those who’ve lived several lifetimes have seldom gain.”

“I’m older than I look,” the Druid crossed his arms over his chest which had him realizing his staff hadn’t come through with him. The last time he had come close to death only to wake up in the cavern, his staff was right beside him.  However, having looked around, he couldn’t find even a glimpse of the gnarled piece of wood. 

His shield wasn’t with him either and he would have been more worried about that if not for the unknown man’s next words. “Only barely over three centuries old, you are still young.”

Locks of brown hair whipped out of his face as Jackson’s attention snapped back on the being before him. “How do you know that? How could you possibly know _that_?”

“You are not the only one who speaks to the winds.  They have taken a great interest in you of the likes I’ve never seen before and I am beginning to understand why,” the man grinned, stepping inside of the array.  The moment he set foot on the glowing red ground, the array brightened considerably before the red tint was leeched away, leaving behind a pure blinding white color. 

“Okay, just who are you?”

“I have lived a very long time, my true name even I no longer remember and those who do know me call me by my title rather than a name. My mate has teasingly referred to me as Njörðr in the presence of mortals as I call her my Skaði. But, up until recently, I did not have a name by which humans referred to me as.  Not until a brave soul bestowed upon me a new name.  It is a name I have taken a liking to,” the man’s smile grew, revealing sharp fanglike teeth.  “So you, young warlock, may call me Snowy, if you so desire.”

“Snowy? But…but I saw you die!” Jackson sputtered, not an ounce of concern in his voice that the man was claiming to be a dragon.  There were many creatures and even a small percentage of human that could change their appearance through illusions, spells, or other shapeshifting means and just because he’d never heard of or seen a dragon change their form didn’t mean they couldn’t. 

“And you didn’t?” Snowy raised one sharp white eyebrow which had the Druid closing his mouth and a light flush spread across his pale cheeks.

“Point taken. So I did die. _Aaaggainn_ ,” the brunet drew out, uncrossing his arms and running a hand through messy locks.  “Wait…did you just call me a warlock?”

“No, I called you a _young_ warlock,” the anthropomorphic dragon corrected, kneeling down to be eye level with the rapidly blinking Druid.

“I’m not a warlock,” Jackson shook his head negatively. “There’s been only one warlock—the most powerful warlock to have ever be born—and that’s Merlin.  Not me.”

It was Snowy’s turn to shake his head.  “That’s not true, young warlock; while it’s true Emrys is the most powerful warlock ever born that also implies there has to be more than _one_ warlock in order for him to be the most powerful,” which made a lot of sense when it was put like that, “you see, warlocks are as much a part of the Old Religion as Creatures of Magic are. Warlocks are born of magic to guard the Balance.  Emrys was one side of the same coin as the Once and Future King, restoring magic to the lands Uther Pendragon’s Great Purge tainted and before him, Cornelius Sigan awakened the slumbering magic deep within the earth where Camelot would be built on and to this day, the very first warlock’s—your ancestor’s—spirt guards the Crystal Cave.  They all maintain the natural balance between land and magic and while some of their tales end in tragedy, they were all warlocks.”

“And me?”

“And you, young warlock, you were magic’s solution to bring balance back to the Barbaric Archipelago, the land of dragons,” the Bewilderbeast clasped a hand on Jackson’s shoulder.

“But that wasn’t _me!_ That was _Hiccup_.  He was the one to bring an end to the war with dragons before I even arrived, it was because of him peace between various tribes in the Barbaric Archipelago was achieved, it was him who outsmarted the Grimborn brothers and their Dragon Hunters. He thwarted Krogan and his Dragon Flyers—”

“—and you were there. You believed in him, gave him the tools to succeed, introduced him to the Balance of Nature, to various Creatures of Magic.  You challenged him to do _better_ , to _be_ better.  You were there for him when he _needed_ you.  As Emrys walked beside the Once and Future King, you did the same for Hiccup and more; you loved him.  You’ve done all you can for him.”

“I didn’t do enough,” Jackson turned his head to the side, looking downwards to conceal the tears welling up in the corner of his eyes.  “I broke my promise.  I left him.”

“But not of your own volition.”

“Doesn’t matter. I still left him,” the teenager shook his head, eyes clenched shut to keep the tears from falling.  “And at the worst time possible.  There’s a _war_ on the horizon and I left him to weather it out.  I didn’t tell him goodbye; didn’t get the chance to tell him I loved him one last time.”

Silence filled the area.

“What if I told you, neither one of us is dead, not yet at least, and there is a chance for you to return?”

Jackson’s head whipped up, staring at Snowy with wide shimmering eyes.  “What?”

“I owe your Dragon Master a great deal.  He has defended my kin, protected my egg, and defeated countless threats—both human and kin alike—and I intend to repay him.  But, I cannot, not in my current state,” the Bewilderbeast grimaced, hand reaching down to press up against his lower stomach and if it weren’t for the gesture, Jackson would have overlooked the blood seeping through his armor into the red furs.  “You can.”

“How?”

“Your situation is unique,” Snowy gave a crooked grin.  “I can feel the celestial power of the otherworldly being calling himself Manny muddled within you.  It’s weak, but I can feel it wrapped around your spirit.”

“I was one of Manny’s Guardians of Childhood,” Jackson shrugged, discreetly wiping his eyes of the moisture gathered there. “Does it matter?”

“It does, because the celestial’s energy that surrounding your spirit fortifies your essence.  Not many beings can survive on Midgard without their bodies and not go mad.  They eventually deteriorate, becoming mere wisps of their former selves. However, the one you call Manny has preserved your spirit in such a way that you have no fear of deteriorating like normal ghosts. There is a chance I can return you to Midgard with a little bolstering from my power, you could reunite with your body and live, but there is no guarantee.  Not in my current state and the chances of failure is extremely high.

“If your spirit doesn’t return to your body, the remaining protection from the celestial’s energy will sustain you for a time but the power I am offering you to return doesn’t come without a cost. Draconic magic is aggressive and will eat at the muddled celestial energy until what little protection Manny’s power offers is destroyed. You’d become just like any other ghost. Lingering unseen by all; fated to fade away.”

“Do it.”

Snowy’s head bowed, white tresses hiding his eyes from view. “Even if that means you’re risking your existence?  By going back, you might cease to exist. I’m not talking about passing on the Valhalla or reaching Avalon, but erasing yourself from existence. Are you willing to take such a risk?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Jackson didn’t hesitate.

“You truly are worthy,” Snowy’s lips curled in to a feral grin, revealing sharp fangs.  Standing, the dragon held his blood soaked hand upwards and the brunet could only watch as the liquid spread and grew, forming a massive oval covered in small red tipped spikes.  The appearance of the muted egg had Jackson drawing in a large breath in apprehension, amber eyes full of alarm as he unconsciously took a step back.  “You know.”

The Druid hesitated but reluctantly nodded his head.  “I know.”

“How?” the growl pierced through Jackson, reaching into him and taking a hold of a fear he’d long since buried alongside knowledge he’d sooner forget.

“Light filtered through a piece of crystal from the Crystal Cave and the Dragon’s Eye,” the teenager whispered.  “I was curious, different dragons’ flames produced different images and I wondered what of a light spell?  I wish I had never learned what I did and I vowed to never tell a soul.”

A single eyebrow rose. “No one?”

“No one,” the Druid confirmed, clenching his eyes closed and allowing the tears to fall.  “I had a feeling Krogan suspected but he was working for someone.  Someone who _knew_ and after today, I now know Drago Bludvist uncovered that information. Why else would he need a King of Dragon’s egg when he already had a Bewilderbeast under his command? He doesn’t just want to subjugate dragons; he wants to control them, he wants the power of a King of Dragons, he wants your draconic magic and he was going to scarify the life of your egg to steal its power.

“And I let him.  I failed.  I couldn’t stop Krogan in time. It’s because of me your egg will never hatch.  I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

“Drago does not have the powers of a King of Dragons and that is far from failing,” Snowy shook his head.

“But your egg,” Jackson hiccupped out between sobs.

The King of Dragons gave a sorrowful smile. “My mate and I knew long before you ever entered our breeding grounds that the egg would never hatch.  The life inside left not long after it came into this world.”

“The pedestal…the one we found the egg on…that wasn’t a nest…that was an altar. Your mate was in mourning. That’s why she allowed us to leave with the egg without attacking,” amber eyes widened as realization set in, only for brows to furrow together a second later. “But, I felt it, I felt the life inside of the egg.  I felt the life _leave_ the egg.”

“No, what you felt was a resonation.  An echo of the life that could have been. All that remains in this egg is magic, pure draconic magic, my legacy, and with my blessing, I entrust you to pass it on to the one the Night Fury has named kin,” Snowy held the muted egg up. 

An egg which was no longer mute. The dull color now vibrant as a light emanated from inside and the brighter it got, the brighter the array beneath them grew.  Until finally, a crack formed in the shell and it shattered. In that instant, Jackson understood what the Bewilderbeast meant when he said only pure draconic magic remained. It was indescribable. There was nothing like it.

The magic took the shape of a wispy silhouette of a Bewilderbeast the size of a tiny mountain coiled around the dragon in human guise.  At the same time, Snowy’s shadow rose up, morphing into that of his Bewilderbeast’s form to tower over the top of his human visage which was slowly fading.

“You might have the soul of a Druid but your heart?  You have the heart of a _dragon_ ,” the shadow dragon let out an ear-piercing roar and the array shattered taking the light and the shadow of Snowy with it.

The glowing wispy dragon stayed behind and let out another—much softer roar—before cantering right towards Jackson. Shrinking in size as it bounded straight into him, entering his body right over the Druid’s heart.  The brunet was thrown back, gasping out as power filled his whole body, his hair instantly changed to soft white locks while amber eyes blazed icy blue and still, the power kept coming.  It was overflowing, trying to escape its new— _smaller_ —vessel but there was nowhere for it to go. 

Before he’d only been graced by the ice. Before he could only guide snowstorms. Before he only had the power of winter at his fingertips.  _Now_ ice pulsed through his veins.  _Now_ he could conjure up the most devastating blizzards at a mere whim. _Now_ winter’s might was brimming through him, searching for an escape.

_This_ was the might of a Creature of Magic.

_This_ was the power of an alpha. 

_This_ was Snowy’s legacy

_And it_ _hurt_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rant: AHHH! HTTYD3 was great, but a little bit of a let down. There was nothing bad about it, I loved the whole plotline but all of the visually stunning scenes were shown in the commercials and while we got closure for Hiccup and Astrid, we don't know what happen to the rest of the Dragon Riders and Berk. I wanted to know more, I wanted to see the other Riders age as well, see if they had children too and how they got on with their lives after the dragons left.
> 
> No matter the slight let down, I still adore the movie but I think the second one still holds the spot as my favorite.
> 
> Also, why hasn't RotG wiki been updated to reflect the plot/cliff notes of Jack Frost's book? It came out in November and I'd thought people would be better about updating the wiki so I could use it as insperiration like I do with the HTTYD wiki. At least HTTYD fans keep that up to date, but because RotG wiki isn't up to date, I can't put a lot of elements from there into here. (Someone, please give me a synopsis of the book, I don't have the money to buy it or the time to read it.)
> 
> If you like what you've read, and have some cash to spare, please drop by my ko-fi page and support me. If you don't have the cash, I take reviews and fanart too because those make me happier, but leave me no better off than I currently am (which means not Night Lights for me *Cries*).


	18. Rise of the Dragonlord

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my first Ko-Fis! A big thanks goes out to Yabun and Swan Drawn for supporting me in my endeavors and it is because of them, I was able to purchase The Art of How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World (just waiting for delivery now) which will, hopefully, inspire me to continue one with this series. (Yes, I said I was getting Night Lights, but they got me to my goal and I felt the book would do more for my inspiration. My new goal is the Night Lights though.) Not only did they support me, but they left me beautiful messages too. Thanks again!
> 
> Ameekay: The frozen alive reference was from the final episode of Race to the Edge series. Sorry for any spoilers, which reminds me... 
> 
> WARNING: SPOILERS FOR RACE TO THE EDGE SERIES
> 
> Ameekay (continued): I did miss the Dragon Eye in the movie, where was it? And I totally agree with you on the Night Lights, they did remind me of orcas, but still adorable.
> 
> ConfessedGeek: Yes! I completely agree. I was beyond mad when we didn't get to see more of the war. And what the hell happened to Drago?! I was disappointed he wasn't in there at all with any of the Warlords or Grimmel. We did get to see Muddy in the Hidden World, but that was the extent of what we know.
> 
> kew2759: You called it...read on.

Darkness. That was the first thing he remembered. It was dark, and it was cold and he was scared. 

His body was drifting in nothingness, floating through the void.  He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t even know who he was.  He was set adrift, rays of light refracting through the water all around in a dazzling display that went unnoticed.  A small part of him registered the ice parting for him as something dragged him up through the thick layer of solid water where he took his first gasp of fresh air.

And he remembered.

“ _Hiccup!_ ” Jackson bolted to full awareness, wildly looking around.  He didn’t recognize the Dragon Sanctuary at first, not in its destroyed state.  His confusion only grew when he realized he was a considerable distance away from the Dragon Sanctuary and the last placed he remembered being.  Looking down he found himself hovering a few inches above the ice-filled waters.  The gentle caressing of the winds spiraled around him, holding him afloat.

A glance at his reflection in the water revealed hair as white as snow and icy blue eyes.  His clothing was the same as what he had put on two—maybe three?—days prior.  Yet he was lacking two very important items, his staff and shield were missing.  Even with how beloved of items the missing objects were, they were a secondary concern.  Overshadowing the loss of his staff and shield was the fact he wasn’t Jackson Overland anymore, something which became more apparent when he held up his hands and found them the flawless pale color he hadn’t seen in four years. Spraying his fingers out resulted in jolts of blue energy jumping from one finger to the next.

No, he was no longer Jackson Overland. 

He was Jack Frost once again.

The very notion had his heart wrenching. He hadn’t made it.  Snowy did all he could, but Jackson Overland hadn’t made it back to his body and Jack Frost had no believers. He was invisible and he could already feel Snowy’s legacy eating away at the protection of Manny’s blessing. No one could see or hear him, he was just another nameless spirit, no better than a ghost lingering on a plane no longer his own.

He was alone.

He would never regret it.

Hiccup and the others were still alive.

They might not know Jack was still present, but he was and the Guardian was not about to let anything happen to them. Whatever time Jack had left on this earth, he would use to protect his own. As much as he wanted to rush off back towards Berk where the winds informed him the Dragon Riders were heading, chasing after Drago, he didn’t. Instead, the spirit drifted towards the destroyed Sanctuary, across the war-torn battlefield where the winds helpfully deposited him on the ground in front of a collapsed mound of ice slabs. The uneasiness he felt doubled in intensity when nothing happened.

“You said neither of us was dead,” Jack whispered, hoping the other spirit hadn’t gone astray like him.

A wave of his hand and the ice turned to snow which the winds swiftly carried off. Walking forward, he rested a hand on one of the spines below a closed eye. He knew what he’d been expecting, for the icy blue eye to sluggishly open, for the Bewilderbeast to breathe out a chilling breath, for the dragon to live.  What he wasn’t expecting was for the land to tremble as another rose from the water.  Dread seized Jack—and if he’d been back in the future, Pitch would have been overwhelmed with power from the Guardian’s fear—that Drago’s enslaved beast was back to finish what his master stated.

A sizzle of magic sparked to life in his clenched fist but the eternal teen didn’t get a chance to react as the Bewilderbeast rising from the sea slowly shrank in size. It was only then he realized the dragon was the wrong color.  Moreover, the beast under Drago’s control was male while this one was most definitely female.  Her human form was nearly as tall as Snowy’s own with the same icy blue eyes and shockingly white hair tipped in red, though hers was bound in various locks with leather cords.  She too wore armor of bone, scales, and red fur but with a more feminine flare seeing how she wore an ankle length skirt instead of pants.  As she grew closer, Jack noticed scarring on her exposed arms leaving no doubt in his mind she knew how to defend herself.

It didn’t take Jack long to figure out this new Bewilderbeast wasn’t so much as a new Bewilderbeast, but an old one he’d already met.  Well not face to dragon eye, but they had crossed paths in the past.  This was the Bewilderbeast from under Berserker Island.  This was the mate Snowy spoke of: Skaði. The white-haired teenager was so enthralled with her sudden appearance that he failed to notice the female Bewilderbeast was upon him until it was too late and she walked straight through him. 

Jack staggered backwards, sucking in a large gulp of air at the unpleasant sensation. He’d forgotten what that felt like.  The nightmares of the phantom sensation that haunted his dreams was one thing but having experienced it again was much worse. 

“Njörðr,” the unfamiliar voice jarred Jack out of his stupor and he quickly spun around to find the woman beside the Tidal-class dragon. “I am here now, Njörðr.”

The spirit could only watch as Skaði laid a hand on Snowy and Jack could _see_ her magic pulse through the air as he too shrunk, taking on the human visage he’d met in the cavern.  There was no mistaking it now, it wasn’t just a trick of them being spirits, Bewilderbeasts really could become human.  He knew various magical creatures that could change their appearance but very few of them weren’t already part human to begin with and those that weren’t always had some kind of telltale sign of their true form.  If he hadn’t witnessed the change himself and felt their magic, Jack would never have been able to tell them apart from regular humans.  There magic was even muted to the point it didn’t feel as if it could belong to anything other than a regular, if not powerful, human.

“Spirit,” Jack jumped at the gravelly voice.

Blinking a few times, he realized the Bewilderbeast—who’d knelt down to cradle Snowy’s head in her lap while he was distracted—was speaking.  A quick look around revealed there were no other lingering spirits even remotely close to them and the few he could see were too preoccupied with coming to terms with their new existence to take notice of anything else. 

Skaði was talking…to him? Jack didn’t understand.  She hadn’t seen him. She’d walked through him. She didn’t believe in Jack Frost and yet, she obviously knew he was there. How she knew, he didn’t know.

“Hello?” the teenager tentatively voiced with a bated breath.  When she didn’t look up from caressing her mate’s face, he knew she hadn’t heard him.

“Spirit,” Skaði rumbled soothingly, “I don’t know why you insist on concealing yourself, but I know you’re there.  I felt your magic for the briefest of moments, the very same magic now running through my mate.  You have nothing to fear from me, you saved my mate, for that alone, I owe you a boon.  There is no reason to hide. Show yourself.”

How much Jack wish he could obey the woman’s command. 

Instead, the spirit let Snowy’s powers flow through him and out through his fingertips.  Frost immediately formed, shaped by his will as they coated the area with patterns of dragons fighting, of two Bewilderbeast fighting.  He tried his best to explain what transpired in as few pictures as possible, but there was just too much to say without words.  The next frost depiction illustrated Drago’s enslaved dragon leaving, taking with him those under Snowy’s protection followed by a little isle where the dragon army was headed. Finally, after a little hesitation on Jack’s part, he drew a picture of the Bewilderbeast egg being held by Hiccup with Toothless at his side.   

The woman followed along with the graphic novel of frost. Eyes taking in every image, her frown deepening with each new pattern of devastation.  However, it was the last image which turned icy blue eyes into narrowed ice daggers, pupils mere slits.  Tenderly, she reached out and tapped a single clawed finger on the last image.  The eternal teen felt his connection to the frost instantly shatter as Skaði’s own powers easily took hold of the frost.

Blue eyes watched in wonder as the images came to life like Jack had done all those years ago on that fateful Easter night to rekindle Jamie’s belief with a bunny.  Then again, there was a large difference between his simple frost bunny when compared to the lifelike versions of the frost constructs of Hiccup and Toothless now roaming around.  It was like watching a movie as the miniature Night Fury duo began moving about, protecting the egg as they’d done on Berserker Island.  It was when the third construction—one not of Jack’s own—approached the Night Fury duo that the eternal teen reeled back.

The construct was of him. More accurately, it was of Jackson Overland.

Jack frowned, looking over at Skaði who was manipulating the frost constructs through slow lazy gestures of her fingers and wondered if she knew who he was. Reaching out with his power, the spirit gently mingled his frost with that of the dragon’s and took control of the constructs. Not because his power was greater than hers but because she allowed him to.  If anything, her powers dwarfed his own, even with the extra power.

With the frost now under his control, he allowed frost Jackson to hug Toothless around the neck before reaching up on his tiptoes to kiss frost Hiccup on the forehead and then Jack snuffed out the frost construct of himself.  The Night Fury duo looked sad as the egg dissipated in a swirl of snow and a new frost construct took shape.  A Bewilderbeast, with Drago situated on its tusk, was making its way to Berk.  Another frost construct, wispy and undefined appeared above Hiccup and Toothless and with it, the vague silhouette brought the Bewilderbeast egg which turned into a powder. The tiny snowflakes circled the Night Fury duo, encompassing them as the spirit faded away.  Leaving the frost Hiccup and Toothless to stand tall in the face of Drago and his oncoming beast before.  Only then did the remaining constructs turn to snow.

“Then you must hurry, Spirit, if this man is not stopped, I fear for all my kin.  Njörðr has already given his blessing, and now, I too will give my blessing, use the magic of our egg wisely.  Now be off with you, Spirit, there is no time to waste.”

Jack nodded, knowing she couldn’t see him but not caring.

“Take care of him,” the eternal teenager whispered, taking a step back and allowing the winds to gust up around him in response to his silent request.

“I will,” the Bewilderbeast whispered softly, staring up at the fleeing spirit as he flew further and further away.  A groan from her lap had the woman looking down.  A calloused hand caressed the tense face of her mate, allowing more of her magic to flow freely into him, lending him her strength to aide his healing.  “I told you he was the one, Njörðr, the Night Fury’s Companion might have the Soul of a Dragon, but he holds the Heart of one.”

“Winds, take me home,” Jack pleaded and the raging winds complied.  They flung him faster than he could ever remember having gone in the future. Hurtling through the sky, towards the setting moon, towards Berk. The cold, which he had been susceptible to before, didn’t even phase him despite the ice forming on his eyelashes and the tips of his hair.  The sudden stop should have killed him, or even hurt him regardless of his immortal state, yet with Snowy’s legacy flowing through him, he didn’t feel a thing other than the underlying pain which came with the power not his own.

His arrival came a little too late.  From his vantage point hovering above the island, he could see Hiccup and Toothless standing over a defeated Drago.  His worry bled from him at the sight.  Hiccup hadn’t needed his help.  He could take care of the tribe; just like the Druid had assured the young man days’ prior.  Hiccup was ready to be chief.

Jack was so relieved at seeing Hiccup safe— _alive_ —and in control of the situation that he did something very foolish.  He let his guard down.  It wasn’t until it was too late that he took notice of the muddy colored Bewilderbeast rising up from the waters beneath him.  The enslaved beast spewing supercooled water towards the auburn-haired Viking.

“ _NO!_ ” the eternal teenager shouted, flinging himself towards Hiccup and Toothless. The latter having done the same but since he was closer, the Night Fury was able to shield his rider from the assault while Jack could do no more than watch the supercooled water instantly froze upon contact, encasing them ice.  

Jack leapt onwards to phase through the solid ice. One of the few perks of being a spirit. Inside the ice, he could feel the Night Fury’s magic resonating with his rider yet both of their essences were fading fast. 

“Don’t…You…Dare!  Don’t you dare die on me!  I didn’t sacrifice my second chance at life for nothing you, moron!  This? This isn’t your time.  You have so much more to live for.  You have so much more to _do_. I won’t let you die,” as he spoke, the Druid reached forward, splaying a hand across the dragon’s nose. Snowy’s legacy thumbing through him, the excess power, power he should never have had racing from him and into the dragon below.  He could feel the energy surging into the Night Fury, mixing with his own core before leaching into his rider. 

“Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, the Boy who Befriend the Dragons, the Conqueror of the Red Death, Rider of the Last Night Fury, you have proven yourself to the King of Dragons,” Jack didn’t know where the words were coming from, but they felt right as the alpha’s power left him.  “I, Jackson Overland, Last of the Druid Clan Taliesin, Guardian of Fun: Jack Frost, Warlock of Magic, do bestow upon thee and thy kin—Toothless—their rightful inheritance and give thee the Blessings of Njörðr and Skaði, naming thee _Dragonlord, Kin of Dragons, Blood Brother of Toothless._ ”

Snowy’s power steadily drained from Jack with each passing word and then, he could finally _breathe_. The pain receded around the same time as the area around his hand began to emanate a soft blue light which spread down the Night Fury’s dorsal fins.  A light that grew brighter and brighter with each passing second while he felt himself become weaker and weaker.  Jack could see his hand become transparent as he began to fade from existence, but he didn’t let up until he was shocked, literally.  The intensity had his hand reeling back, creasing the flow of energy.

It took him a second to figure out the jolt came from the Night Fury, a natural reaction on Toothless’s part to repel the last dregs of the Bewilderbeast’s magic the spirit was funneling into the dragon. The core of winter clashed with the Night Fury’s fiery essence. The frozen dragon somehow reflected the magic back into Jack.  Even now, he could feel the cool, icy part of Snowy’s legacy—which up until this point had stayed separate from his own core—thread itself through him. Binding part of the dragon’s legacy within his heart and leeching life back into him. The transparency to his hand diminished, restoring his body back to normal; well, as normal as being an invisible spirit could be considered normal.

“Show them what you got,” the eternal teenager smirked, phasing up and out of the ice as a thunderous blast from within shattered the rime.

Jack watched in glee as Toothless emerged from the debris, his body steaming as the black scales along his spine glowed a brighter blue with rage.  The Night Fury’s split dorsal blades searing with blue heat, while a glow emanated from his flared nostrils. Slowly, he uncoiled himself, revealing—much to the white-haired teenager’s relief—Hiccup curled safely under his wing.

A ferocious, ear-splitting roar tore through the air, ripped from an enraged Night Fury’s throat. Directed solely at the mud-colored Titan.

Checking on his rider to ensure he was unharmed, Toothless cooed softly at the huffing Viking gazing up at him with wide eyes.  He gave him a small smile and turned his full attention back to the Bewilderbeast. The dragon growled, leaping out of the crater and landing upon one of the many ice spires.  Another roar rent the air.  This one different.

“It’s a challenge,” Jack whispered in awe, floating down behind the auburn-haired Dragon Rider who’d run around the icy debris to get a better vantage point.

“He’s challenging the alpha!” Hiccup spoke not a split second later and the winds wasted no time in amplifying the words so all could hear.

It was a challenge the affronted Bewilderbeast couldn’t refuse and the beast bellowed back at the act of insubordination.  Still, the acceptance was clear to all, dragon and human alike.

Despite knowing the young man couldn’t hear him, the eternal teenager glanced down at Hiccup with a tender smile. “Toothless’s challenging the alpha to protect you.”

Together the two watched as Toothless unleashed a salvo of plasma into the Bewilderbeast’s face.  Never once did he let up, preventing the Titan from retaliating. He was able to retain full control of the battle up until the Bewilderbeast thrashed his tusks through the ice in an attempt to smash Toothless.  Deftly springing from the destroyed spire to another spire, the Night Fury continued on with his unrelenting barrage of attacks.

In the midst of the mayhem, Jack felt something snap and a rush of lightness filled the air. Icy blue eyes snapped up above the mud-colored Titan’s head at the horde of commandeered dragons from both Berk and the Dragon Sanctuary.  It wasn’t noticeable at first, however, Jack noticed as his friends’ dragons fought the enslaved Bewilderbeast’s control and it was no surprise to him when they were the first to break free.

A growl from Toothless brought the eternal teenager’s attention back to the dragon to find him standing protectively in front of Hiccup. Then, whatever control over the enslaved dragons the muddy Titan had was completely broken and flocks of liberated dragons flew to freedom. A few of them flew away, away from the island and the possibility of being enslaved once again.  However, the rest of them—the majority of them—amassed behind Toothless.

“No, no, no, no!” Drago began to truly panic. Rushing for the mud-colored Titan, he skillfully retrieved his lost weapon in his mad dash and used the bullhook to clamber on to the Bewilderbeast’s tusk—climbing up with little problem despite the dragon thrashing about—while ranting, completely unhinged.  “Fight back! _Fight!_ **_FIGHT!_** _What_ —” he glared up at the defecting dragons “— _what’s_ the matter with you?”

Mounting Toothless, Hiccup nudged the dragon to take up his previous position on the ice spiral eye-level with the Titan. “Now do you get it? This—” he gestured a hand towards the dragons in the air behind him and the swell of Hooligans stepping out from the destroyed village to show their unified support “—this is what it is to earn a dragon’s loyalty.”

Hiccup paused, staring the clearly defeated man in the eyes and saw the man for what he truly was. Regardless of the overwhelming odds stacked against him, the tyrant wouldn’t give it up.  He would not give up the power, he couldn’t give up the power even if it meant his life and it was a life Hiccup would gladly exchange for the life of his Druid if possible.

“Let this end. Now.”

“Never!” Drago swung his bullhook in the air, hammering it up against the Bewilderbeast, spurring the beast to charge. “Come on!”

The Titan obeyed the command with a roar and Toothless braced himself, ready for the attack. A growl over his shoulder had the freed dragons rallying, readying themselves. A blast from the Night Fury aimed right at Drago had Skullcrusher firing an attack. Followed by Stormfly. Then Hookfang, and then Barf and Belch, and then Meatlug, and then they were indistinguishable from one another as the flock of dragons opened fire on Drago and his enslaved dragon.

“ _FIGHT!_ ” Drago bellowed from where he had been forced to take cover in the tall spines of the giant’s crown from the fiery barrage.  Even they weren’t enough to protect him completely when his prosthetic arm was blasted clean off by one of his own— _freed_ —armored dragons. “ _BLAST THEM!_ ”

The Bewilderbeast shook off the small blasts and reared back to put some space between him and the rest of the dragons.  It was clear the beast was preparing to blast them and encase them all in ice, but Toothless was ready.  A large, glowing blue ball of plasma hit the Titan head on.  The sheer power behind the blast was enough to knock the colossal dragon backwards and exploded outwards in a cloud of smoke.  Yet it was the sound of something snapping, followed by one of the Bewilderbeast’s massive tusks falling to the ground—sheared clean off—that had Toothless growling.

The Night Fury was calling an end to the fight. 

He was sparing the enslaved dragon’s life.

A token that was not appreciated going by the way Drago was seething.

“The alpha protects them all,” Hiccup’s voice washed over the whole island with the assistance of the winds.

A snarl from the victorious Toothless had the overwhelmed and overpowered Bewilderbeast yielding.  It was then Jack could feel the magics shifting to adapt to the new regime.  By right of conquest, Toothless was the new alpha and the mud-colored Titan’s rank was nonexistent. The Creature of Magic knew when he was beaten and retreated into the sea with an explosive splash.

There was a pause as they waited for any sign of the Bewilderbeast or Drago to immerge.  When there was nothing, the Hooligan tribe members erupted in victorious cheers. Above them, the herd of dragons screeched and growled, swirling around, unsure what to do.  Toothless, sensing the uneasiness from the foreign dragons, thrilled and jumped down from the spiral, an indirect command to the rest of the herd that they should do the same.

Hiccup dismounted the Night Fury, turning to find dragons landing around them and they weren’t just from the Dragon Academy.  They were the Hooligan tribe dragons, the dragons from the Sanctuary, and Drago’s armored dragons.  All of them were surrounding the two which resulted in the rest of the tribe falling silent, wondering what was going on.  Then, starting with Cloudjumper, the dragons began to bow one by one, acknowledging Toothless as their alpha.

The Night Fury looked around in surprise until understanding dawned upon him. In response, he stood up straight and regal like, giving a slight nod before letting out a truly majestic roar. The assembled dragons joined in, roaring in tribute and they were joined by the Hairy Hooligan tribal members’ shouts.  Toothless, feeling movement at his side, turned to his rider as the Viking approached. 

Reaching out, Hiccup ran his hand over the Night Fury’s head, vivid green eyes gazing into acid green orbs.  “You never cease to amaze me, Bud—” laying his forehead against the dragon’s, he dropped his voice to a whisper, “—Thank you.”

Toothless gurgled, leaning into the touch. They had a moment, connecting with one another.  The moment was ruined by the Night Fury pulling back slightly in order to lick his rider’s face. Hiccup gasped in surprised, reeling back to escape the continuous barrage of licks and ended up falling on his back in his attempt, making it even easier for Toothless to lick him.

“Toothless! You know that doesn’t wash out,” Hiccup gasped out between fits of laughter, shuffling backwards to get out from underneath the happy dragon.  The Night Fury wasn’t the only one happy as the native Berkian dragons ran to reunite with their Vikings.  Around him, he could hear the joyous reunions which made the young auburn-haired man’s heart soar.

Standing up, he watched as his council embraced their dragons.  Stormfly nuzzled her shieldmaiden while the blonde hugged the Deadly Nadder for all her worth. Gobber was being flattened by Grump while Fishlegs’s whole attention was on Meatlug snuggling up to him much to Ruffnut’s dejection.  Barf dipped his head to her level in order to console his rider and was followed by Belch, looming close for some affection as well.  However, the blonde Viking pushed the Hideous Zippleback’s second head away from her and right into Tuffnut’s awaiting arms.  Not far off, Windshear and Hookfang were circling around their riders who were splitting their attention between the two dragons.

Hiccup smiled with only the smallest hint of bitterness clouding his eyes while his pack rejoiced. “Jackson, I hope you’re watching.  This is all because of you.”

“I am,” Jack spoke, coming up behind the Viking and laying a hand on his shoulder.  He couldn’t help the disappointment when his fingers phased through the young man and quickly pulled back.  His hope soared when Hiccup shivered and turned to face him but the feeling was short lived when vivid green eyes stared straight through him at the approaching Dragon Trapper.

“That was some pretty fine dragon wrangling back there. You’d make a good trapper,” Eret sauntered over, wringing his hands as he spoke.

“And you’d make a good Dragon Rider,” Hiccup responded as one of the armored dragons, a Rumblehorn, followed after the trapper as only a loyal dragon would.

“Me?” the dark-haired man chuckled nervously only to yelp when the dragon bumped his head into the man’s back, affectionately nuzzling him.  Eret chuckled and gently stroke the unfamiliar dragon around the piece of armor.

“Y’know, these dragons are gonna need somebody to look after them now,” the auburn-haired Viking gesture his head towards the other man.

“Them?” Eret parroted, glancing up to see many of the other armored dragons had begun to gather around him and their new alpha as well. “Oh.”

“Think of it as a way to make reparations,” Hiccup nodded reassuringly, “help them break away from the hold Drago had over them as you have.”

Eret looked at the clutch of armored dragons, pausing to consider it, and kneeled down to gaze into the uncertain eyes of the Rumblehorn. “I’d be honored.”

The Night Fury rider watched as the dragons swarmed the Dragon Trapper happily chirping and chittering.  All fighting for a turn to be petted and nuzzled.  It was a heartwarming sight.

He was so engrossed with the sight he failed to notice the crowd go silent. Turning around, he saw his father heading in his direction with his mother’s assistance.  The crowd parted for the chief, watching with wide eyes as he stopped in front of the young Viking.  His face expressionless but his eyes?  His eyes were bursting with pride.

“The Pride of Berk, Hope of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, none of which can hold a candle to how proud I am that you are my son,” Stoick spoke clasping his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. 

Valka reached over and clasped his other shoulder.  “I am every bit as proud as your father.”

“Thank you. I’m really glad you’re here, both of you,” Hiccup’s smile was weak at best, vivid green eyes casting downwards for a moment to hide his grief.

“And here I’ll stay,” his mother reassured him.

“Here we’ll both stay,” Stoick added, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of both his son and his wife, looking out at Berk while Toothless came to stand on Hiccup’s other side.

“Chief?” Huffnut’s voice rose above the whispers as she made her way to the front of the crowd with her son and the other Dragon Trainees behind her.  “You…Drago claimed you were dead…that he killed you.”

“He tried,” Stoick nodded, letting go of his son to discretely cradle his side and limped forward with Valka standing just a step back, intending to catch him should he fall.  “Jackson Overland gave his life to ensure I lived.”

“Jackson?” Terrorthi whispered, eyes darting around. Looking for the Druid as if he would magically appear at the call of his name, completely overlooking the immortal teenager standing next to Hiccup.

“No…” Gustav denied, taking a step back.

“That can’t be,” Snuffnut shook his head, grabbing on to his mother’s hand as she stood beside her sister, looking to Hiccup for him to deny the accusation.  However, when he just bowed his head, they all realized the truth of the statement.

“He was given a proper Viking Burial at sea,” the young auburn-haired teenager finally looked up after steadying himself with a deep breath.  He would have said more, but a tap on his shoulder had him looking over to see a wooden dragon head.  Following the carved staff down, vivid green eyes met the eyes of Gothi.

Having gained his attention, the village elder made a gesture for Hiccup to kneel. He hesitated, looking back at his parents to see them wrapped up in each other’s arms.  A nod of his father’s head had him facing Gothi and with a gulp, he kneeled down.

Gothi glanced around and took a step back, rubbing her fingers across smoldering pieces of burnt wreckage.  Her fingers came away covered in ash, which she used to trace the Hooligan tribe rune meaning “chief” on Hiccup’s forehead. Once she was finished, she bowed and took a step back, allowing the young man to stand. Meeting Gobber’s proud gaze, the blacksmith turned to the silent crowd and threw up his arms.

“The chief has come home!”

“Nay,” another voice chimed above the rest as an icy blue ball of light raise up above the heads of the crowd only to land in front of the group.  The light dissipated to reveal a tall pale woman with long flowing white hair, blue cat-slitted eyes, and lips the color of frozen mulberries.

“Periwinkle?” Hiccup whisper, recognizing the familiar face regardless of her growth.  The fae gave a small nod of her head as other multicolored lights drifted above their heads, some of them landing and revealing themselves to be other Wyldfae which had gone through similar growth spurts—Fawn being among them and was now the size of a small child—while others hung in the air.

“A child no more, a Dragon Master no longer, but a _Dragonlord_ has returned and we, the Wyldfae, welcome thee home.”

“Wha—what does that mean?  You’ve always called me a Dragon Master, what’s with the change in name?” Hiccup asked, taking a step towards the beautiful woman, noting that she—unlike the other Wyldfae—now lacked wings.

Periwinkle gave a small smile.  “You were a Dragon _Master_ due to your friendship with thy Creatures of Fire. You were their protector but no more.  Now you are a Dragon _lord,_ you are their kin.  The Alpha bestowed upon you a new birthright, a blessing of the highest honor and like an alpha, dragons will obey your command. Long live the Dragonlord.”

A multitude of fae voices chorused after Periwinkle. “Long live the Dragonlord, long live the Dragonlord, long live the Dragonlord.”

Slowly, but surely, another chant joined in with the voices of the the fae.  “Long live the chief!  Long live the chief!  Long live the Chief!”

The Hooligans erupted with cheers and applause as Hiccup took in the moment, acknowledging the weight of the responsibility now upon his shoulders and wondering what the fae had meant. Toothless, in his joy, threw back his head and hurled a burst of plasma up in the air, spurring all other dragons to follow suit, lighting up the sky in a spectacular display.

“Live long Hiccup,” Jack spoke softly, letting the winds pick him up and hover high above the ice-covered village.  A frown crossed his face at the devastation of his home and without thinking, he waved his hand absentmindedly.  The residual power from Snowy raised to the occasion and the mud-colored Titan’s ice shifted, moving off of the huts and releasing the people trapped behind large, impenetrable walls of frozen water.

Another wave of his hand, this one with intent, had the fluid ice losing its muddled appearance to become crystal clear as it reforming into beautifully crafted sculptures. They were slightly larger than the originals but all around the village, ice took the form of the first-generation Dragons of Berk. The last of the ice formed the shaped of Toothless and after a slight hesitation, Jack created his own ice. Starting from the ground and building upwards until finally an ice sculpture of Hiccup stood next to the ice Night Fury, overlooking the sea as a warning to all.

A reminder that Berk was protected. 

Gasps of awe came from the mortals below as they watched the ice warp and morph from something destructive into something beautiful. Only two immortals looked skyward to where Jökul Frosti drifted, eyes shining an eternal blue and hair as white as snow. Jack neither saw nor heard any of the awe belonging to the mortals below as the last of Manny’s blessing dissolved and darkness took over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI: The next chapter might not be in two weeks, I'm having a hard time with it...I've had it finished since before the Hidden World came out and now that the Hidden World is out, it scrapped some of my ending. The rewrites are being a pain and not working for me. Not to meant RL is getting busy and I don't have that much time to write. So, don't hold me to two weeks this go around. 
> 
> As always: If you like what you've read, and have some cash to spare, please drop by my ko-fi page and support me. If you don't have the cash, I take reviews and fanart too because those make me happier, but leave me no better off than I currently am.


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